Rappin' Down Town

Rappin' Down Town is the third album from New York City-based rap/hip hop group, The Sugarhill Gang. Released in 1983, this album includes the minor R&B hits, "The Lover in You" and "The Word is Out."

The latter three tracks on the album would also appear on the band's next album, Livin' in the Fast Lane the following year, with "Kick it Live" becoming a moderate hit.

Background

The Sugarhill Gang debuted with one of their singles Rapper's delight which has been said to popularize rap music and bring into mainstream music in America. Rappin' Down Town was the third and final album they wrote until they disbanded in the 1980's.

History

The roots of hip-hop date back to the South Bronx in the 1970's, when the construction of the Cross-Bronx expressway displaced many black and Hispanic families while many whites fled the area. Renewal projects also caused massive relocation of economically delicate blacks and Hispanics into the South Bronx. Early rappers voiced their frustrations of a society in which urban blacks were oppressed, powerless, vulnerable, and underrepresented. Block parties started becoming popular around this time as well, and hip hop was played at these parties. “Djing” and “MCing” were also born because of these parties. These parties allowed groups like the Sugarhill Gang to start getting popular.

Track listing

1. "The Lover in You" (Pete Wingfield, Sylvia Robinson) (6:52)
2. "The Word is Out" (Bernard Alexander, Doug Wimbish, Guy O'Brien, Henry Jackson, Michael Wright, Robinson) (5:40)
3. "Winner Is" (Wimbish, Skip McDonald) (6:48)
4. "Kick It Live from 9 to 5 (Michael Hepburn, Pleasure) (6:25)
5. "Space Race" (Wimbish, Ed Fletcher, McDonald) (7:41)
6. "Girls" (Al Goodman, Harry Ray, Wright, O'Brien, Venus Dodson) (5:37)

External links

• Sugarhill Gang- Rappin' Down Town @Discogs.com
• Hip Hop music