What was the FIRST Hip Hop Song? AN INVESTIGATION

[@randomcharacter6501]

This is honestly too good for KZbin. Somebody get this man a show on a streaming service!

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

YT this is a streaming service ! But they dont pay artists enough, eventhough they are Google and pay almost NO TAXES ! Check your head.....

[@hhhsp951]

What's that thing from space again?,

[@gezblair]

Public service broadcasting at its finest.

[@theseanwardshow]

Seriously. Give him a budget, let him travel and interview people, 6-8 episodes, he'll give us the entire history of recorded music

[@luisbarahona6255]

Definitely, the quality of the page and all the nuanced insights warrants and has earned the merit for one

[@thaddeusford]

as a sixth generation jazz (black american music) trumpeter from new orleans, i want to commend you for presenting this accurate, thorough presentation. and the fact that you have introduced the legend of the great buddy bolden to tens of thousands of people that may have never heard of him is awesome. much respect to you and please continue doing what you’re doing.

[@kxnganon9168]

Wassup bro I'm from New Orleans too (I'ma rapper and producer)but u seem more informed than me bout this is what he described as sunday's off and the slaves meeting up to play music and dance the same as the second line . That's instantly what I thought of when he said that

[@montygraves3650]

It doesn't matter that you sound White bro, you're speaking the universal language of Hip Hop (quite masterfully, I might add). So in this sphere, you're dialect is well understood and very much appreciated in OUR community!! (that includes you, of course)

[@lonwoolf7370]

Man speak for yourself.. he’s not welcome in OUR community, we don’t even know the man.. and as black men we gotta be better.. ain’t no way we should be having a yt man teach us anything about our culture

[@mokodo813]

Nothing makes me happier than to see Digging The Greats drop a new video 💯

[@Kanyewestbiggestfan123]

Happier than*

[@godforreal7355]

Not even when it's about a musician you like?

[@mokodo813]

@@godforreal7355whoops. typo

[@C.Ellis_BMI]

Indeed Fam! 2:42

[@artistlovepeace]

Digging The Greats is literally genius. His lectures are astonishing. He literally breaks down why these records are wonderful. He is a Professor.

[@CantTellYou]

High school music teachers need no more than to just put on a DTG playlist and let the kids watch

[@matlee9832]

He is literally white, yuck!

[@craigpeacock3601]

The first time I heard rap on the radio was “King Tim the 3rd” by the Fatback Band which was before “Rapper’s Delight”

[@citizencain01]

"Way back in the days, 1979 Fatback band made a record using rhyme..." BDP - "Hip Hop Rules"

[@LarryMiller88]

📠📠📠📠📠

[@leewightman8619]

Never heard of them but all check them out

[@greghamilton4129]

Agreed. I heard it while shopping on Jamaica Ave in Queens.

[@itzdm0r3]

The Fatback Band is classic funk!

[@garrytreymendeziii5650]

Damn, I live about 15 minutes from Slovenia in Croatia and I’m sad to report that after 60,000 years of trying, they still haven’t made any bangers over here.

[@diggingthegreats]

😂😂😂

[@danielhoskins4690]

Give them time…

[@jcmurie]

So glad you mentioned The Last Poets. That debut is one of the best albums I've ever heard and the rest of their catalog is phenomenal as well

[@chiarosuburekeni9325]

I’m glad common and Kanye gave them their props by having them on that song The Corner. They made a banger even better with their verses

[@puertoricanguy999]

Flipping great video as always, DTG! Also, I'm kinda surprised you didn't talk about the "Here Comes The Judge" song from comedian Pigmeat Markham, which even goes ALL THE WAY back before King Tim III.

[@diggingthegreats]

Should have brought it up. By my own definition in this video it would count and predate the fatback band. But it also predates the culture of hip hop itself. Absolutely a precursor like Gil Scott Heron, or even the Jubilaires. These lines are difficult to draw, as I show in the rest of the video. Even calling the fatback band song the first gets tricky.

[@samwest1097]

My mom used to have ‘Here Comes the Judge’ on Vinyl. As a kid I couldn’t tell he was rapping, just thought he was hilarious. But I know he inspired a lot of NY brothas that would go on to be entertainers.

[@MobileMagic-e1x]

No mention of "Here Comes the Judge" by Pigmeat Markham as one of the first (if not THE first) person "rapping" over drums?

[@LLMelvinL]

Yes!!!!

[@Starmann2004]

Good to mention

[@hansolo9585]

Before that you had Muhammad Ali in 1963 rapping over drums in what can arguably be called the first battle raps.

[@heyitsmesomeone6371]

@@hansolo9585 Im sorry where can u find the clip of his singing?

[@froggyspond1133]

Channel deserving of millions of subs, honestly. Don’t worry tho these 300k are worth 3m “normal” channel viewers. You have almost no bots in your comments and I’m sure your engagements are genuine. This channel rocks buddy. Thank you.

[@RenR70]

Like Roger & Zapp said, “music comes in all forms but the blues is where it started from”.

[@CantTellYou]

That quote is so true, so ruff AND so tuff

[@ncheezy]

I'm a 37 years old and a massive Hip-Hop fan, can't believe I only just discovered your channel! Honestly one of the best channels on KZbin, love your breakdowns of classic songs I grew up with and love and hearing the stories behind them. Video production quality is also top tier!

[@soulchorea]

when you flipped the flute sample I busted out laughing 😆

[@CantTellYou]

so close 😂

[@6lackcomedy]

We are all HUMAN.....color is no matter in great music and production....just a pure soul! You have a PURE SOUL my BROTHER!!!!

[@13thcentury]

Except those neanderthal chaps... our cousins. Man, I'd love to go back and hear how they played it.

[@drogfour2447]

It's funny to me that it never crossed my mind he's white until he mentioned it

[@KtotheG]

I've always felt that funk is to R&B what bebop is to jazz. Bebop was essentially jam sessions put to record, which is why a lot of people didn't get it at first. I've always saw funk in a similar way. They are jam sessions for rock and R&B musicians. And hip hop was born out in the park where the B-boys "jammed" to funk tunes being played by a DJ. The breakdown was always the funkiest groove, which made the B-boys really get down and jam. That's essentially how hip hop was born.

[@TeagueChrystie]

A livery stable was like a parking lot for your horse when you came into town.

[@tempeff8670]

Your expression when you're playing the flute notes over the instrumentals, classic!

[@charlesjones4386]

You really outdid yourself on this one. Some of your best work yet. This needs 1 million views for sure!

[@hansrajkumar]

Brilliant - I love how you tie everything together in your videos! Am also curious what the track played at 17:35 is 🎧

[@innabit5961]

Bruh! This is an all time DTG! Shouts to Keith LeBlanc, original Sugerhill drummer who passed away this week 🫡

[@k.chriscaldwell4141]

I lived in Middle-Jersey in the late 70s to the mid-80s. Hip-hop--Rap--was leaking out of NYC on to the radio stations of Trenton, Newark, Camden, and Philadelphia. We could also get some NYC stations. Mix-tapes of it would occasionally come our way. It was like discovering ice cream. I lived on an Air Force Base. The military store chain, AAFES (BX), was hip to new music. I was able then to buy my first Rap record in late '79 or early '80: The 12" of Rapper's Delight. I visited cousins in the Midwest in '81. I blew their minds with what I brought with me. Great memories. Yeah, I was THAT kid. You know, that kid that loved it ALL. From Zep, Floyd, U2, AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Chic, Disco, The Flock of Seagulls, Blondie, Beatles, Doors, Adam Ant, ABBA, Duran Duran, Journey, Asia, Yes, Rush, Rap; Anything and everything but Country and Punk. Yeah, sideone of Duran Duran's Rio would end, and sideone of Zep IV would drop and blast Black Dog.

[@mitmon_8538]

I can't wait to out-white someone when they say Rapper's Delight was the first rap song made. "Well, ackshuyally..." **pushes glasses up bridge of my nose**

[@buenmojo]

Amazing content! What a twist with the ancient flute, very wow moment there. Keep the good work man.

[@Tabb2468]

I’ve always thought as “here comes the judge” by Pigmeat Markham as the first hip hop song. He was a soul/comedy artist from the 60s but “here comes the judge” is delivered in a rapping style not a spoken word, and there’s even a drum break to make it sound even more like early hip hop and it came out as a single in 68.

[@MobileMagic-e1x]

I made a similar comment before reading some of the other comments here.

[@TYBO-xl1xz]

That’s ‘Rap’ not Hip Hop

[@sjb3240]

It can't just simply be rhyming over a rhythm. If so, there were probably many corny showtunes that came before "Here Comes the Judge". That stuff is a totally different style and not connected at all to what was happening in the 1970's NYC park jams.

[@AfferbeckBeats]

I agree, it's slang laden braggadocious rhyming over slamming funk drums, it's a clear close relative to what hip hop would become. Another one is What About You (In The World Today) by the Co Real Artists from 1974 which is even closer to hip hop.

[@KtotheG]

It has to be over a break beat. The early hip hop pioneers were inspired by Pigmeat Markham, though.

[@airfixx_8952]

One can def. argue that GSHeron & The Last Poets are more spoken poetry than rap, but Lightnin' Rod's "Hustlers Convention" LP (1973) certainly has the rap flavour......

[@CantTellYou]

🎯 essentially a Kool & The Gang album with Lightnin Rod sorta kinda almost just about pretty much rapping over them lol it should’ve got a mention at least

[@Uitverkorenen]

Chic's good times is not just Funk. It's Disco. There are a lot of classic hiphop samples taken from Disco. Like " everybody reach, reach for the top......don't stop" ....to name just one. Great channel. Love the vids

[@themotownboy1]

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I have now subscribed! In this recap of history, I was wondering why you didn’t mention Jamaican dub street MCs rapping over specially made dub versions of reggae and ska songs. This, I think, began in the late 60s. The concept of the extended version seems to come from Jamaican dub. I look forward to exploring your videos. Thank you!!!

[@morreddie717]

Another banger upload from my man @Diggingthegreats! You gotta do more of these kinds of videos

[@michaelmeece]

What’s that tune at 11:30? I’ve heard it on another channel. Is it a public domain sample kit?

[@chaunceypierce8803]

I don't know if it counts, but in 1978 The Emerald City Sequence from The Wiz was the first time I ever heard anyone "rap" over music.

[@eldorado5319]

👋👋👋 Wow Brandon, your best work so far. Recap, so your saying Miles Davis "sampled" (and ripped off) a 60.000 year old Neanderthal #1 hit song?

[@diggingthegreats]

In a way, yes 😂

[@kadu51044]

Hey, what you want on your plate when you arrive at the cookout? Because I am learning so damn much about my history, and holy crap I was not prepared for what I am stepping into when I was looking into doing something similar once upon a time. I, as a student of the beat and rhythm, I bend the knee to your knowledge and skill, and seeing you digging the greats indeed!

[@corinne_vintage]

Another stellar deep dive! 🤩 And I'm sorry but I could not stop giggling every time you said bone flute. I just... I'll see myself out 😂😂😂

[@elgringovagabundo]

Mind.Blown. Also, "I'm so white." Haha I feel your pain man. Great video as usual!

[@ginether6174]

Been watching your videos for a while and they are always great even with the changes you had to make! Your voice is definitely YT as hell but I rap and do fashion blogs and In fashion we use a bunch of juxtaposition to make fits stand out! So your voice may be different than what is expected for this type of content but it’s also what makes it unique pulls the viewer in. Anyways great video keep doing your thing

[@SIGuess]

Seeing Digging The Greats has uploaded yk the day is going to be good

[@scottwoods8496]

Longtime viewer, first time caller. This is your best video to date, hands down.

[@ingmarvanderhoek6314]

The mixing of cold sweat and so what is genius! Thank you for enlightening me once again.

[@707cambam]

Wow. This was one of the most awesome music/history lessons I’ve ever learned or watched.Cant wait to watch it with my daughters!

[@lunaleonem3378]

Bro, at 17:25 you actually look at the point the red bar has reached! That is a high class detail.

[@mikescully6972]

That drum beat on ain’t no sunshine by bill withers is ahead of its time

[@BarryKrishna]

Absolutely incredible video. Keep up the amazing work brother ✌🏼

[@yodjruthless924]

what's with "Here Comes the Judge " by Pigmeat Markham, i would call this the first hip hop song

[@diggingthegreats]

Should’ve mentioned this in the video as well. Almost brought up cases like this and the Jubilaires. Could be considered the first hip hop song, but it’s before the culture of hip hop was born. Now I gotta do another video 😂

[@diggingthegreats]

It’s hard to draw lines in general too - is 8/11/73 the absolute beginning? Is the Fatback band song the first song? That’s also part of my point in the video - these lines are hard to draw

[@ASSman864]

​@@diggingthegreats some consider jimi hendrox castles made of sand to be one of the first instances of rapping

[@MongoSlade1]

Thank you for getting it right, I remember hearing this As a wannabe DJ at that time, me and my friends were so proud because it was the first Rap song that got Radio Play in New York, while everything else was underground or only played in Clubs. Wow, this made my Day, Good memories

[@frolicious5531]

Yoooooo! Ur enthusiasm has me jazzed!

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

Did anyone else think he was going to given mention to 'The Jubalaires - Noah', when it came to the origins of rap?

[@mruhopper]

Yep....as a matter of fact, as great as this video was, I'm a little disappointed.

[@eancklean7922]

What a nice video man! It is soo well driven, congrats man!

[@ralphjackson8295]

It's because of "Rappers Delight" it's called Hip-Hop. People were going into the record store looking for Rappers delight but they didn't remember the name so they would say...do y'all got the album that goes "Hip hop, a hippie, a hippie to the hip hip hop you dont stop"...So many people did so, that the record stories put up sign saying Hip-Hop here. So the answer is YES, it is the first hip hop album. Everything before it was rap and everything after it became hip-hop.

[@brantub]

No idea how you wrote this and put all that research together into such a clear and entertaining video. Amazing work!

[@skottgrist]

This is one of your best videos. Beautifully done.

[@jackietunes]

This was so awesome. My only complain? wishing more. Nice work Sr.

[@moneymikz]

We should bisect hip-hop into two eras BEB&R and AEB&R… because before Rakim it was pretty much all Froot Loops rap

[@nym053]

Hmmm, what are the 2 notes of that boneflute? 🤔😁 And also, what's the link between the hiphop culture and Jamaican sound system culture?

[@Ric-E...Ricardo]

I appreciate the content you put out. I always think about music stuff, and you make it. Good stuff man.

[@strongislanduk]

This is your best yet, so good!

[@Itssokrucial]

Great Stuff, I see you put a lot of work and love into the videos! Salute

[@magicmodulator]

DUDE this is your best video yet nice one

[@grittyshaker]

Wow! This is the first time I’ve seen you in my feed in ages. I thought you stopped making vids for a while

[@diggingthegreats]

Welcome back! Still publishing every Friday, must've been an algo shift!

[@angiegray4987]

The bone flute playing So What and the James Brown song is pure gold. I can almost forgive you for all that crazy evolution talk...

[@MasterF18]

Legitimately got emotional for me at the end with the flute. Incredible video.

[@OurBlackEmpowerment]

Before watching the video - My first is King Tim III, although I did hear Rappers Delight. Then I heard The Last Poets, later I heard the song from the 1940s. Now I’m going to watch the video.

[@KalebPeters99]

Wow, this was such a journey! Great idea to hook people with the backstory of hip-hop, then sneak in an entire history lesson 😅 Amazing content as always, some of the best on the internet 🙏❤

[@AgentZ7]

Rap goes so far back, Hiphop on the other hand is an amalgamation of several tenets as you said.

[@Mixxwizard]

I feel honored to be able to meet Tim, aka King Tim iii, when I was ten years old. He & my dad used to hang out together. I remember when we brought my dad a copy of his first single. Dang, I feel old now.😂... Thanks for sharing the knowledge with those who did not know about this.

[@LLMelvinL]

People forget about pigmeat Markham ! He was the first to rap on a track and he said his rapping on a track.

[@tylerlevibald420]

Amazing video as always! I love digging through all the 45s I’ve inherited to hear an amazing piece of jazz or blues that I’ve never heard before. These videos are incomparable ❤

[@TR6-2.0]

This is fantastic! Thank you 🙏🏽. If the DJ and Rapping elements of Hip-Hop were inspired by Jamaican Culture (Toasting and Dee Jay)what was the first song that was recorded? Would love to see a spotlight on the Jamaican influence - such as what we refer to as “beef” or “battle raps” in Hip-Hop were preceded by Jamaican artists such as U-Roy and Prince Jazzbo beefing.

[@down-b8197]

DJ and rapping elements were not inspired by Jamaican culture. Rapping dates back to the 1920s/1930s with jazz players. Count Machuki started in the 1950s and according to him he got the idea to toast from Black american jive radio host. Rap battles also comes from the dozens, Jazz contest and rock contest.

[@TR6-2.0]

Appreciate the insight @down-b8917 - learned something new. But also, what you’re saying is that @diggingthegreats needs to make two more pit stops to get to the origins of Hip-Hop. Sounds good to me. Would love to see both.

[@kajuiceboi3592]

Man it's a great video, and I love your channel, but just tell me the time, not how the clock is made if you know what I mean lol. The history was interesting and I'm all for that, but I clicked on "what was the first hip-hop song" not "the history of west-african music & tradition." But again it was an interesting video nonetheless, even though you never explicitly mentioned the "first hip-hop song." I'm not tryna hate or anything.

[@noctivagentmusic9339]

You’re a legend for that bone flute mix at the end 10/10

[@peoplecallmepeechez]

Best part of these videos is reading the comments of everyone else thoughts on what the first hip hop song is. Gotta look some of these up

[@gigigalli2485]

great video as usual, just a little note... I think that Herc doesn't have the crossfader, he only moved the needle backwards to restart the break every time (at least that's what I understood from the documentaries I watched)... Sorry for my english and greetings from Italy!

[@Carlito_Sway]

To me, what makes Cold Sweat the first funk song is that it has, as far as I know, the first funk BEAT: that is, the first appearance of an r&b/soul drum beat where the strong beats (the snare on 2 & 4) are syncopated. If you listen to Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, the snare backbeat is regular, on 2 & 4 of each bar. In Cold Sweat, the second backbeat is displaced, or syncopated- it occurs on the"&" of 4, an eighth note later. There is a theory in music cognition called rhythmic embodiment- we tap our feet or dance or clap to "mark time" with a rhythm, and when our sense of the backbeat in the music is displaced, we embody more strongly in order to feel a regular pulse. So, by syncopating the backbeat in increasingly complex ways, James Brown and the JBs were MAKING us dance!

[@davidpellerin5952]

~Bro, you bringing this channel from better to best! ~Amazing! Keep at it. Gold quest! ~You got it, for real, this is most appreciated. ~So much inspiration, I’mma call it revelations! Thank you very much. Peace!

[@dmug]

What about “Here comes the judge?” for proto-rap?

[@The_One_Cosmos]

There are actually 5 pillars of Hip Hop. Emceeing, Dee Jaying, Graffiti, Break Dancing, and Beat Boxing. People now days try and remove Beatboxing, but in fact, it can never be removed since it is a core element of Hip Hop as one of the 5 elements. And in fact, Beatboxing still has a scene and is still used in music and may always be.

[@KreshoMTB]

Every single yt video you did is an piece art for it itself... thx for such a great content!

[@reallivingtv1662]

Wow was not expecting the flute at the end. Blew my mind man. No pun intended.

[@philosophy20]

I ALWAYS love these kinds of breakdowns! Thanks DTG ✊🏽😁. Shout out to hip-hop and the pioneering genres that came before.

[@Polygroove1]

I have to make just a “little” addition to the “pillars” or what some of call the “elements” of Hip Hop. There are actually 5 Of Elements….Emceeing, DJing, Dance, Graffiti and Fashion….what we wear is just as important as what we rap, tag or scratch…..❤

[@PurpleSunTAS]

Started with debating the first hip-hop song, ended up with a PhD in musicology.

[@zoranlojanica]

OK this was amazing. Love your videos, but this one... whoa. Presentation level 9000

[@K1NG931]

What's the background track at 9:15 called?

[@samplehead_beats]

you should do a video on Bahamadia. or maybe one on the album "the coming" by Busta Rhymes?

[@justinr5989]

That closing of the loop on those two notes, oh my goodness. You should work for Smithsonian, honestly 👊🏼

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Amazing video !!🎉

[@gsr4079]

I was kid in the Bronx in the late 70's early 80's. I literally had a front seat to watching the birth of rap and hip hop. I was at the park jams. I was at the HS jams. I lived less than a mile from Bambaataa. I knew many of the early rappers. Most of us consider Fatback Band as the first official recorded and pressed rap song. Now if you want to include mix tapes etc as part of the calculus - then Flash and Founky Four etc would be the answer. not sure you could ever pinpoint the very first mix tape.

[@VendettaPtown]

@VendettaPtown 0 seconds ago Rappers Delight also biting Grandmaster Caz lyrics is why I don’t get down with that song! Hiphop rule NUMBER ONE… NO BITING!😎

[@Moconvomedia]

You be dropping so much knowledge. Thank You

[@QueMusiQ]

Digging through my dad’s records? My earliest record I immediately identified as “hip hop” is 1969’s The Last Poets’ “This Is Madness”. Culturally and sonically a dope “hip hop” record. It’s also when the last element of the culture hit: my boy Adolfo’s crew The Original Lockers. That’s the style of dance that I today as an elite OG hip hop dancer would immediately identify as current at first glance. 1969 is a PIVOTAL era in the organic concrecense of what we later called “Hip Hop”. Fun fact, the late amazing Adolfo “Shabba-Doo/Ozone” Quinones and I vehemently disagree. He says hip hop wasn’t hip hop until they (him personally as an attendee at some convening) chose the name in 1983. My take: the 4 explicit elements were completed 14 years sooner when HIS elders created the Campbell Lock in Chicago circa 1969. The sound bwoy dem already existed in Jamdown, graph writing existed since cave paintings and cuneiform in Tama-Re (Egypt), and rap? Well, it existed before the last poets. It was how pimps talked. (See “H. Rapp Brown’s “…Black Power Gon Get Yo Mamma” book where he explains his nom de guerre.)

[@DerekRivera-zo6fu]

Just watched your video, and was impressed. But I disagree with your answer to the first hip-hop song. Have you heard of Pigmeat Markham and the song "Here Comes the Judge".

[@519schoolofhiphop]

My new favorite video of DTG! 💎🖤🫡

[@bawzbawz]

To address the rap vs. hiphop points here. ALL rap by black artists are hiphop. One must understand in the early days, hiphop only referred to rap MUSIC. By the late '80s and early '90s, hiphop became a CULTURE. As such, Pigmeat Marham published the first hiphop song and deserved a mention on this topic. In '68 the song wasnt very popular because black culture focused on actually singing. It took Silvia "Love is Strange" Robinson to see the vision that most publishers at the time was too stuck up to understand the new music form. Still a great presentation, DTG

[@ossiejon-nwakalo8644]

When you started talking about the first funk song I was gonna stop watching but then I thought “he’s gonna tie it back all the way to the beginning somehow” and I was not disappointed

[@Nikkyeshiva83]

How did you grow so fast and immediate? I was sent your first video at 5k subscribers and it was pretty quick. Industry plant? Used to host a radio show in Austin?

[@diggingthegreats]

Yep, industry plant 😂

[@Chigz10]

The term industry plant is officially overused now if we’re using it to describe KZbinrs, like that makes any sense 😂

[@beyshore_]

could it be consistent, high quality content?

[@notafamousperson95]

holy shit, what a journey! thank you for this video. its crazy i caught those 2 notes as soon as you did and how it all connects

[@notafamousperson95]

also, to me, 'Here Comes the Judge' by Pigmeat Markham is the first Hip Hop song

[@ka1iban]

Stealth "Cold Sweat" video! Awesome!

[@emmp6799]

Now that is some good storytelling. Such an enjoyment to watch and listen.

[@davisspictures]

Keep putting out the greats. Everyone will dig at some point.

[@jonntischnabel]

I was definitely thinking that adriano celantano would get a mention in there, in my opinion a legit hip hop song, and recorded in 1970. It still slaps today. ❤