In September 1979, the Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight,” the song that ultimately pushed rap/hip-hop music onto the radio and into the mainstream. But the song wouldn’t have existed without another song released just a few months earlier: “Good Times” by Chic.
But disco had already been declared dead. In Chicago, White Sox fans blew up crates of records in the middle of the baseball field in what became known as Disco Demolition Night. But in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Northern New Jersey, kids were taking those same records and giving birth to hip-hop. A new podcast called “Speed of Sound” looks at pivotal moments in music and delves into the history behind the music.