The First Rap Song Ever Recorded
Rapping is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates rhyme schemes performed with a musical instrumental or backing beat. Rap is one of the four elements of Hip Hop Culture (MCing or rapping, DJing, Break Dance, and Graffiti) but the origins of rapping precede Hip Hop culture. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines Rap as music of African American origin in which rhythmic and usually rhyming speech is chanted with musical accompaniment. The origin of modern Rap comes from the West African griot tradition, in which “griots” would use their skilled oratory techniques for praise, critique, and social commentary. The role of the griot in West African society was an oral historian, storyteller, singer, and musician. The griot would also keep records of births, marriages, genealogies, deaths, through the generations of the family or village.
Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham also known as “Sweet Poppa Pigmeat”, "Alamo" Markham, and David "Pigmeat" Markham was born April 18, 1904, in Durham, North Carolina and started entertaining in 1917 at the age of 13 years old. Before Pigmeat Markham recorded the first rap song ever made he was known as a vaudevillian actor, singer, songwriter, comedian, and dancer. Pigmeat Markham was a traveling entertainer in the 1920s and became famous working the "chitlin' circuit" of nightclubs and even performed at the Apollo Theater in New York.
Pigmeat Markham also claimed he originated the “Truckin' Dance”, a popular dance in the 1930s. During the1940s and 1950s Pigmeat Markham began appearing on television and film. In 1968 he recorded "Here Comes The Judge" on Chess Records whos’ catalog is currently owned by the behemoth Universal Music Group, run by the most powerful person in Rap music Lucien Grainge. The first rap song ever recorded and Pigmeat Markham's most famous routine “Here Comes The Judge” became popular to the general public after Sammy Davis, Jr. had performed it as a guest on “Rowan & Martin's Laugh In” on March 25, 1968. In 1968, "Here Comes the Judge" peaked at 4th place on the Billboard R&B charts and 19th overall, also gaining a top 20 hit in Europe.
The first rap song ever recorded mocked formal courtroom etiquette which is often the subject matter of many rap songs. “Here Comes The Judge” is more musical satire than a scathing criticism of the judicial system, it’s a fun song. Even though Pigmeat Markham’s lyrics were laughable, with simple rhyme schemes, over basic melodies, he is clearly rapping on “Here comes the Judge”. Pigmeat Markham like The Last Poets and Gilbert Scott Heron are considered the originators of early rap. Though Pigmeat Markham and his contemporaries all spoke about the social and political issues of the time and delivered their messages in the form of rapping lyrics accompanied by music. Pigmeat Markham released “Here Comes The Judge” in July of 1968, and the Last Poets along with Gil Scott Heron didn’t release an album until the early 1970s, which makes “Here Comes The Judge” the first rap song ever recorded.
With song titles like “At the Party”, “The Trial” , “This’ll Kill Ya!” , “The Hustlers” , “Backstage” , and “The Crap-Shootin' Rev” most Hip Hop heads might think this is the tracklist from Killer Mike, Jay Z, or Kanye West and not a vaudeville stage act. Pigmeat Markham died of a stroke, December 13, 1981, in the Bronx, New York at the age of 77. Pigmeat Markham lived long enough to see the birth of Hip Hop culture in 1973 and was laid to rest in the mecca of Hip Hop culture.
