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- Soul Train was instrumental in distributing hip hop
as a culture to TV viewers for decades.
Here are some of the most significant hip-hop performances
on Soul Train.
While Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" performance in 1980
holds the title for the first time America
was introduced to hip-hop on the Soul Train stage,
"Rapper's Delight" the iconic song
composed by The Sugar Hill gang made a huge impact.
The infectious baselines
and rapid-fire delivery from Wonder Mike,
Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee wowed audiences worldwide
with their performance on Soul Train in 1981.
In the early 80s,
the US was recovering
from an economically challenging period.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's depiction of
impoverished life in their awe inspiring track
"The Message" resonated with people across the country
who struggled to make ends meet.
- We're delighted to have with us,
the young men responsible for one of the greatest rap
records of all time.
The song's entitled "The Message"
and they are Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
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- Soul Train was about dancing and few titles
caused the Soul Train dancers to converge on the dance floor
like "Jam On It" by Newcleus.
In 1984, Newcleus had the party in full effect.
However, when Run-DMC hit the stage with "Rock Box"
and Jam Master Jay later that year,
hip-hop and Soul Train deviated from partying
to hardcore hip-hop.
The trio from Hollis Queens would later go on
to electrify the airwaves with "Walk This Way,"
though this initial appearance on Soul Train
cemented Run-DMC as a force to be reckoned with.
(audience cheering)
One of the memorable hip-hop performances on Soul Train
was from a brother from Queens,
who donned the chain gold bucket hat, track suit,
and had the energy of a thousand muscle bound men,
and ultimately would go on
to be one of the most idolized hip-hop artists of all time.
While most hip hop focused on bravado,
battling MCs, and bringing the party to the masses,
Public Enemy's lyrics centered around inequities
experienced by black people.
When the group boarded the Soul Train stage in 1987,
performing "Rebel Without a Pause"
and "Can't Truss It" three years later,
their social message resounded loud and clear
giving a platform for their leader, Chuck D,
to speak out about injustice affecting the audience.
- The song is titled "I Know You Got Soul"
and they are Eric B. and Rakim.
- Eric B. and Rakim's "I Know You Got Soul"
was another pivotal performance on Soul Train.
America was taking notice and had an insatiable hunger
for raw hip-hop born in the streets of the five boroughs.
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1988 was a huge year for hip hop artists and Soul Train,
and Heavy D & The Boyz let men and women know
that size isn't a factor with their chart topper,
"The Overweight Lovers In The House."
However, the female duo Salt-N-Pepa broke gender norms
when they released "Push It."
It was a club banger and helped audiences realize
female MCs are bonafide wordsmiths
intent on expressing themselves.
The nineties were filled with influential artists
like Naughty by Nature,
(drum beat)
Da Brat
♪ Because we so funkdafied ♪
with performances featuring Craig Mack's
"Flava In Ya Ear"
Tha Dogg Pound's performance of "Let's Play House" in 1996
let the world know that the west coast juggernaut
Death Row Records was here to take names.
Hip-hop was very present on the Soul Train stage
as the genre dominated pop culture in the late 90s
and early 2000s.
Juvenile in 1999, Lil Wayne in 2002,
and Silkk The Shocker in 2004,
worked cash money and no limit record artists
that extensively used the platform
to introduce the world to a new sound
that oozed from down deep in the Southern reaches
of the United States.
After 35 years,
the last original season of Soul Train aired in 2006.
While T.I has the honor of being the last major
hip-hop artist to perform on the hallowed Soul Train
stage that year,
a legacy responsible for the success
of hundreds of hip-hop artists left an indelible mark
on the stage that introduced the masses
to new ways artists expressed themselves.
The hottest dances, and love, peace, and soul.
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