The Rap Attack — Five early hip hop hits you may have missed
When David Toop’s Rap Attack book was released in 1984 he wrote about several of the early important rappers and DJs. Since then some have remained household names, like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. But here’s five you may have missed. Listen along on Mixcloud too.
Joe Bataan – Rap-O Clap-O (1979)
Joe Bataan is a Latin soul musician who released his first album in 1967. But in the late 70s he saw how popular rapping had become and decided to release one of the first rap records ever recorded.
The session was meant to feature rappers Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, but when they didn’t turn up Joe wrote his own rap, Rap-O Clap-O. The song was a hit around the world and was his only real rap record, with future albums returning to his latin funk / soul sound.
The Younger Generation — Rappin All Over (1980)
Producer Terry Lewis brought in The Furious Five to record We Rap More Mellow, which was released in 1979 as The Young Generation. Mele Mel later revealed the song was released without the groups knowledge, while percussionist Alfonso Serrano has publicly called out Terry Lewis for never paying the session musicians from this release.
Putting aside their messy origins, The Young Generation returned in 1980 with Rappin All Over, this time featuring the Marvelous Three: AJ Scratch, DJ Small, and Busy Bee. Two more 12"s arrived before the end of the 80s, but it appears the group was used more as a name for whatever Terry Lewis was producing at the time as the lineup was always changing.
Spoonie Gee & The Sequence — Monster Jam (1980)
Spoonie Gee (Gabriel Jackson) released his debut Spoonin Rap in 1979, the same year three-piece girl-group The Sequence released their debut Funk You Up. The following year they would team up on Monster Jam. It was their only track together but it’s an absolute classic.
Spoonie would continue releasing singles through the 80s, but only one album, The Godfather Of Rap. While The Sequence released three albums on Sugar Hill Records before Angie B (aka Angie Stone) went solo. She has continued releasing R&B / Soul albums since, and her most recent Full Circle arrived in 2019.
The Deuce — Think About It (1983)
Rodney Cee (Rodney Stone)and KK Rockwell (Kevin Smith) were members of Funky 4 + 1, one of the first rap groups to appear. The group released Rappin And Rocking The House in 1979, and in 1983 Rodney and KK appeared in the hip hop film Wild Style as Double Trouble.
Their song Stoop Rap appears on the Wild Style soundtrack, but by then Double Trouble had changed their name to The Deuce. They released one single Think About It, which uses elements of Stoop Rap, before renaming themselves again. As Deuce II they released a final 12" in 1987, Are You Ready (For The Big Throwdown) but Think About remains their best.
The Fearless Four – Rockin’ It (1983)
Sampling Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, Rockin’ It is probably one of the best known songs on this list thanks to it featuring in the 1983 graffiti documentary Style Wars. Unfortunately it’s also one of The Fearless Four’s best songs overall, as nothing else they released really compares.
The group eventually changed their name to Fearless, possibly due to having more than four members at various times, and finally released their debut album Creepin’ Up On Ya in 1994 which collects most of their singles from the 80s. The title track is actually quite good, but even after ten years nothing else gets close to Rockin’ It.
