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Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song
I was reminded of this song after watching the movie Scratch (the greatest hip hop movie ever as far as I'm concerned, even trumping Wild Style) last night, marking roughly the hundredth time I've now watched it. There's a scene in the movie when Steinski is talking about a Zulu Nation concert that he went to, describing how at one point during the show Bambaataa handed his dj, Jazzy Jay, an unlabeled 45. Jay threw on the record - it turned out to be The Clapping Song - and the crowd went nuts. Shortly after seeing Scratch for the first time, I was inspired to try that record out at a house party I deejayed, but it didn't have quite the same effect. Eighties babies just don't seem to appreciate the classics, at least not when you try to clumsily mix them in between cuts from M.O.P. and Mobb Deep.
Afrika Bambaataa often cites Shirley Ellis as one of the originators of hip hop, with Ellis' delivery on The Clapping Song and The Name Game being a very early precursor to the kind of call and response style of emceeing that hip hop grew out of in the 70's (and just like hip hop, Ellis was born in the Bronx). That being said, the general consensus on the first recorded example of true "rap" comes from the Fatback Band and emcee Tim Washington on King Tim III, which came out about a month before Rapper's Delight. Here's a YouTube link to King Tim III.
2/12/2007 06:00:01 PM posted by Fresh