Nile Rodgers just talked about “Rapper’s Delight,” and wow, that story still has teeth.
Quick history lesson.
“Rapper’s Delight” hit in 1979 and became the first giant commercial hip-hop record, the song that kicked rap straight through the front door of pop culture. And underneath it?
“Good Times” by Chic.
That bassline. Stellar groove. What a beautiful disco machine built by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.
And the way Rodgers first heard what hip-hop had done with it is even better: Debbie Harry of Blondie helped introduce him to the scene, and while he was actually at a hip-hop event, “Rapper’s Delight” comes on.
Imagine that.
You’re standing there watching this strange new music culture erupt in real time and suddenly YOUR SONG starts crawling out of the speakers wearing somebody else’s clothes.
Naturally, the lawyers smelled blood and came running.
That’s show business, though.
But here’s the part I love: Rodgers doesn’t sound bitter about it now. Quite the opposite. When Chic plays “Good Times” live, he’ll slide right into “Rapper’s Delight.”
That’s beautiful.
The song borrowed from him, lawyers got involved, everybody survived, and decades later he can look back and see what came out of it:
A whole new musical beast.
Hip-hop grabbed disco by the hips in 1979 and never let go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrZ0Nw9T2Y
Chris Trottier
npub1je…ujglm
2026-08-14 17:42:50 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1jeqcnv0u9nyz8vjknegr2p62f54hfm3v9srudwq4rzarz4tqwk7qlujglmSeen on
wss://relay.ditto.pubPublished at
2026-08-14 17:42:50 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "16ff01da2d140db2a099c887051620179cd27ca03ebaf97542cdf41e6ac74a1f",
"pubkey": "964189b1fc2cc823b2569e5035074a4d2b74ee2c2c07c6b81518ba31556075bc",
"created_at": 1786729370,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://atomicpoet.org/objects/b492229b-cb22-4d21-b396-d3c46d89cd0a",
"activitypub"
],
[
"client",
"Mostr",
"31990:6be38f8c63df7dbf84db7ec4a6e6fbbd8d19dca3b980efad18585c46f04b26f9:mostr",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub"
]
],
"content": "Nile Rodgers just talked about “Rapper’s Delight,” and wow, that story still has teeth.\n\nQuick history lesson.\n\n“Rapper’s Delight” hit in 1979 and became the first giant commercial hip-hop record, the song that kicked rap straight through the front door of pop culture. And underneath it?\n\n“Good Times” by Chic.\n\nThat bassline. Stellar groove. What a beautiful disco machine built by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.\n\nAnd the way Rodgers first heard what hip-hop had done with it is even better: Debbie Harry of Blondie helped introduce him to the scene, and while he was actually at a hip-hop event, “Rapper’s Delight” comes on.\n\nImagine that.\n\nYou’re standing there watching this strange new music culture erupt in real time and suddenly YOUR SONG starts crawling out of the speakers wearing somebody else’s clothes.\n\nNaturally, the lawyers smelled blood and came running.\n\nThat’s show business, though.\n\nBut here’s the part I love: Rodgers doesn’t sound bitter about it now. Quite the opposite. When Chic plays “Good Times” live, he’ll slide right into “Rapper’s Delight.”\n\nThat’s beautiful.\n\nThe song borrowed from him, lawyers got involved, everybody survived, and decades later he can look back and see what came out of it:\n\nA whole new musical beast.\n\nHip-hop grabbed disco by the hips in 1979 and never let go.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrZ0Nw9T2Y",
"sig": "900eb218d3e938cb832d710a9462727b850a2b75711eed4260d8cebaa0a145e2b2d37462dfa0aee9ccabc29181460044fb665c60353c798960e1cd21529cad4f"
}