11 Best Hip Hop Rappers in the 70s

In this blog post, we list some of the best hip hop rappers in the 70s who pioneered rap music.

In the 1970s, an underground urban movement known as “hip hop” began to develop in the South Bronx area of New York City focusing on emceeing (or MCing), breakbeats, and house parties. It all started at the home of DJ Kool Herc at the high-rise apartment at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. It’s movements then later spread across the entire borough.

Rap developed both inside and outside of hip hop culture. Dj Kool Herc is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music.

1. Sugarhill Gang

The Sugar Hill Gang, known as the first nationally popular African American hip-hop group, comprised three members: Mike Wright (Wonder Mike), Henry Jackson (Big Bank Hank), and Guy O’ Brien (Master Gee), all from Englewood, New Jersey.  The group is best known for its 1979 hit single, “Rapper’s Delight”. It was also the first hip hop single to rank in the top 40 hits and to become part of a multi-platinum selling album. Rapper’s Delight is also credited with popularizing hip hop as a new musical genre.

Although “Rapper’s Delight” was an instant hit, the Sugar Hill Gang would never reach the top of the charts again. They released three albums: Sugar Hill Gang (1980), 8th Wonder (1982) and Jump on It (1999). Although considered to be a one hit wonder group, the Sugar Hill Gang opened doors for African Americans into the music industry.

2. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Emerging in New York in the late 1970s, Grandmaster Flash is credited as one of the foremost innovators of Hip Hop DJing as an art form. Flash helped pioneer using the turntable as a musical instrument to create breakbeats, the backbone of any Hip Hop song. He did this by backspinning, scratching, mixing and otherwise manipulating vinyl records in search of the “perfect beat”. Along with the group the Furious Five, Flash came to national prominence in 1982 with “The Message”.

3. DJ Kool Herc

DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) was born April 16, 1955 in West Kingston, Jamaica and migrated to the Bronx, New York in 1967. His classmates at Alfred E. Smith High School referred to him as Hercules because of his size and avid trips to the weight room. Herc started out as a graffiti artist in a group called the Ex-Vandals. But he was introduced to deejaying when his father bought a PA system and didn’t know how to hook it up. He’s the originator of break-beat DJing. This was where the breaks of funk songs—being the most danceable part, often featuring percussion—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties.

4. Funky Four Plus One (Funky 4 + 1)

The “1” represented MC Sha Rock, Hip Hop’s first lady, while the “4” symbolized the other original members of the group: Keith Keith, K.K. Rockwell, Lil’ Rodney C and Jazzy Jeff (no, not Will Smith’s DJ Jazzy Jeff). On Valentine’s Day 1981. Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry was acting as host and musical guest for an episode of Saturday Night Live. Harry was allowed to choose anyone she wanted to appear on stage with her, and chose the Bronx-bred Hip Hop group The Funky 4 + 1. The group performed their big hit “That’s The Joint,” which has been sampled by numerous notable Hip Hop artists such as Beastie Boys, EPMD and De La Soul.

5. Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa set the standard in digging for all the hip-hop DJs who came after, seeking out any track with a funky break lurking among its grooves. As a former lieutenant in the Black Spades who transformed his gang into a breakdancing and DJing crew the Zulu Nation, he was also the main catalyst in carving out an enduring culture for hip-hop. Although Bambaataa’s first single, “Zulu Nation Throw-down,” came out in 1980 on a small independent label, it had nowhere near the success of “Rapper’s Delight.”

6. Kurtis Blow

Harlem-born rapper Kurtis Blow forever changed the course of hip-hop with the release of The Breaks, hip-hop’s first certified gold single. The iconic hip-hop dance track, which featured elements of popular funk sounds and frequent percussion breaks, was one of the early tracks that helped introduce mainstream audiences to the underground hip-hop sound that was birthed in the Bronx by DJ Kool Herc just seven years prior. The Breaks’ infectious rhythm and relatable lyrics about life’s everyday struggles (“bad breaks”) and everyday pleasures (“good breaks”) made the single an instant hit amongst the younger generation.

7. Grandmaster Caz

In the late ’70s, Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records was trying to put a Hip Hop group together and essentially plucked Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike and Master Gee off the street to form The Sugar Hill Gang.  The problem was Hank didn’t have any rhymes, so he asked his friend Caz — who went by his MC name Casanova Fly — if he could borrow some. Caz dug out his rhyme book and handed him what would become “Rapper’s Delight,” the first rap single to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although Caz says he was never properly compensated for his contribution to the groundbreaking song, he told HipHopDX knowing he’s considered a godfather of the culture is “priceless.”

8. Cold Crush Brothers

The Cold Crush Brothers, pioneering hip-hop performers, formed as a group in the Bronx, New York City, New York in 1978.  Along with founder DJ Tony Tone, the group originally consisted of Easy A.D., DJ Charlie Chase, Mister Tee, Whipper Whip, and Dot-A-Rock.  As hip-hop stood poised to break out of New York, The Cold Crush Brothers were considered one of the top crews in the city. Then two of the group’s original members, Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock, left to join the Fantastic Five, who would come to be considered to be The Cold Crush Brothers’ top rival.

9. Treacherous Three

The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ Dano B, DJ Reggie Reg and DJ Crazy Eddie. They first appeared on record in 1980 on the B-side of Spoonie Gee’s single, “Love Rap”. They released their single “The Body Rock” (also known as Body Rock) which became the first Hip-Hop/Rap-Rock song. The single was released via Enjoy Records and off their 1984 self-titled debut album The Treacherous Three.

10. Rock Steady Crew

Undoubtedly the most highly recognized name in the b-boy world, the Rock Steady Crew was first formed in 1977 in the Bronx, New York.  The two man team of Jo Jo and Jimmy D were the original founders. In 1979, Jimmy D realized the need for new blood and added in a member that would eventually be scene as a spokesman for the entire organization.  That member was Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón.  The other new member was Lenny Len.  They began spreading the RSC name into Manhattan. The group’s 1983 international hit song “(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew” (from the group’s first studio album Ready For Battle) peaked at No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart, and reached the Top 10 in many European countries. Members of Rock Steady Crew featured in the films Flashdance and Beat Street, which ignited international interest in the b-boy subculture.

 

11. The Watts Prophets

In 1967, the Watts Prophets arose from the ashes of the Riots to offer a voice for the voiceless. They released two albums, 1969’s The Black Voices: On the Streets in Watts and 1971’s Rappin’ Black in a White World, which established a strong tendency toward social commentary and a reputation for militancy. The radical, incendiary tone of their work fit right in with the emerging black power movement, and attracted unfavorable notice from the government.

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