Rap/Hip-Hop?! | Blondie - Rapture | REACTION

Rap was unknown outside of NYC, This group had it's ear to the ground, they played rock, funk, rap, reggae, punk and did it all well.

Imagine hearing this on the radio for the first time, no visuals just the music! We were like “What the hell is this?” We knew who it was but this was a new sound 👏🏼♥️😂🎼🎸

Blondie were trailblazers and should be given a lot of credit. Rap existed but it was extremely fringe and underground when this was released. 99% of the population had no idea what it was. This song was the first introduction to rap for a ton of people. Rap became an established music genre in the mid-late 80s.

When Rolling Stone magaizne reviewed this album in 1980, they called "Rapture" a failed attempt to urbanize pop music. Little did RS know that it would go to #1 and is still being talked about all these years later. Blondie was always ahead of the curve.

Debbie Harry was intrigued with Fab 5 Freddie and the hip hop street scene. He was in the video as well as Jean-Michel Basquiat the artist. Blondie was innovative! ❤ “Call Me” from American Gigolo is another great song! ✌️

Rap had not been a thing for very long when this song was released. It was not only the first song featuring Rap to reach #1 but it was also the first Rap song to be broadcast on VH1. A few Rap songs were being played on MTV, when this happened, and VH1 was considered a bit more conservative at that time, so the general public didn't know much about Rap. However, people began to take notice when this song rose to fame and Rap began to creep into conversations on TV. It was when Aerosmith teamed up with Run DMC for a Rap version of Aerosmith's classic Rock song "Walk This Way" that Rap suddenly exploded in listeners. In other words, more White kids heard Rap and wanted to hear more. Especially the angry vocals in the Rap that wasn't geared toward dancing, the Rap about social injustice, because teens will be teens. They all want to change the world, until they grow up and the world changes them. I always enjoyed the party Rap, like this great song, more than the angry Rap. But, that's just me.

At the very beginning of the rap she mentions "Fab Five Freddy" and "Flash" (Grandmaster Flash) two of Rap music's OG's. Rap was happening, but Blondie helped bring it into the mainstream.

She was the first female rapper. Btw, I was a teenager when this song hit. It was fire! The dance floor was packed!!!

Surprise for you? Imagine for those of us who heard a spoken part song for the first time!

The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" is considered to be the song that first popularized rap music in the United States and around the world.

The Sugarhill Gang really was the first mainstream introduction to rap with Rapper's Delight. Though it was a huge club banger it hit the mainstream charts top ten.. At that time disco was fading the NYC punk and rap scene was cultivating itself on the streets and in the clubs. Rapture was the first mainstream #1 hit on the pop charts. Soon to follow would be Kurtis Blow with The Breaks, Grandmaster Flash and the furious Five with The Message as far as breakthrough songs. Blondie roots were really from Punk. But at a famous club in NYC called CBGB's they would host the early punk bands and rap artists on alternating nights. Blondies influence from listening to the rap artists there produced a few really uptempo songs for the group. One of which you are listening.

Blondie did an AXS TV concert some years back when she was close to 70. She still could throw down on this song. Never ran out of breath.

Blondie broke barriers by incorporating all sorts of musical styles, and cutting edge by incorporating rap in a dance/pop song influenced by the early new wave scene and coming out of the punk scene. Do check out Dreaming... it an amazing song that not many people react to, and in my opinion, their best. Actually the entire Eat to the Beat album is awesome as it harkens back to their punk days.

If you crank this up on a good stereo or use headphones you can discover how well produce the sonics are in this production, it is a driving energy. And then on top of that everybody memorized all the words of the rap Section 8 saying them along with blondie. Kind of like we did with Bohemian Rhapsody

chuckle There's no big mystery here. The song is called 'Rapture' because she was a New York gal, they were a New York band, they knew rappers and rap, and were giving a nod to the genre.

Blondie was already one of the hottest bands on the planet before this, so their new albums were very anticipated. When this came out, nobody had ever done anything like it - and it was an enormous hit. It was always on the radio and MTV.

Rap was such a new thing at the time and not popular yet. As a 8 year old at the time I had no idea what she was doing. Blondie uses it perfectly in a radio hit song, exposing millions to 80's rap. Also one of the most beautiful women in music ever!

Great reaction. :) A very brief answer to your question: The current "rap" era started in the 70s, but for most of that decade it was confined to NYC, mainly in the black community. Blondie was based in NYC, and they became aware of rap and even attended rap shows at the various rap clubs. And Debbie Harry became friends with some of the early hip-hop pioneers like Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy (both of whom she gives shout-outs to in the opening rap lyrics of this song). Then in 1979, rap broke out of NYC via the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", which became the first rap top-40 hit. In the wake of Rapper's Delight's success, other rap acts in '79 and the early 80s made records, but those records were listened to mainly by rap fans (both in and outside NYC now), not the broader general public. During this same time, Blondie released Rapture in 1981, which was able to cross over into the broader public and become the first rap song to go #1 on the charts. Edit: Forgot to mention that the name of the song "Rapture" is itself a shoutout to the rap genre (that is, "RAP-ture"). Edit: One more thing, Fab Five Freddie is actually in this video, he's the guy painting the "RAP" graffiti.

1st ever rap song played on MTV - - - yep this one.

Okay, I was twenty-five when this song came out and I was also Blondie / Deborah Harry crazy and they are still one of my favorite bands. In fact, I'm seeing them in Fort Lauderdale this coming Thursday. Blondie's albums were awaited with great anticipation back then because they were and are true avant-garde artists. Unlike mainstream pop singers like maybe Madonna and people like that, you never knew what Blondie was going to do and their albums are very diverse in their content. Rap was relatively new and unknown to the general population back then and this was a revelation. By the way somebody has probably already mentioned that the DJ she is rapping to is Jean-Michel Basquiat, the famous New York City graffiti painter who is unfortunately part of the 27 Club. His paintings have fetched pretty much the largest amount ever realized for artwork. Debbie was his first paying customer. Anyway, great reaction as always. Oh, "atomic" is another great song on this album, also "Angels on the balcony." Again, very diverse. Enjoy.