How Seattle's rap scene got its start
In the 1980s, Seattle's music scene was hooked on disco. The success of "Saturday Night Fever" meant venues opted for groovy vinyl over live band performances, and songs like Chic's "Good Times" were on constant rotation. That made room for a similar but modified version of the song's simple breakbeat by a group called The Sugarhill Gang, who quickly brought "rapping" to a nationwide audience.
As Ben Camp tells the story, “Rapper’s Delight” – rap’s first hit – made an imprint in Seattle and kicked off a vibrant local scene connecting Sir-Mix-A-Lot to…
The skinny
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