A History Lesson With Booze ®

The First Rap Hit Record

This week back in 1980, “Rapper’s Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang, became the first top 40 rap hit ever. Learn about the song’s intrepid producer and its bizarre origins, and then order up this future hit at the bar:

My Delight

As mixed for us by Moses Laboy at Red Rooster in Harlem, not far from Sugarhill:

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces Cognac
  • 1 ounce Cinnamon-infused simple syrup
  • 1 tsp. apple butter
  • 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
  • 2 splashes of Dutch’s Colonial cocktail bitters

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake while dancing to the rhythm of the boogie. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a dehydrated pineapple for a little tropical fun. Drink a drop, then hippie to the hip hop…and then drink the rest.

Episode: