It was just over a week ago that Kendrick Lamar performed at the Superbowl. He’s the first solo Hip-Hop artist to be tasked with this opportunity at an event televised to millions of people. His performance has been debated since that day, but let’s go back in time to when these large opportunities started for Hip-Hop artists.
The year was 1981, and it was around this time now on February 14th. On an episode of Saturday Night Live, the group Blondie was tasked with choosing a special musical guest. They chose the Hip-Hop group Funky 4+1. At this time, Hip-Hop was only 8 years old but only 2 years into bringing it mainstream. Now, Kurtis Blow was the first on television on was Soul Train. But it was to a mostly Black audience. The Funky 4+1 became the first Hip-Hop act to be televised to a larger diverse audience. In this group you had four young men and one young woman. That young woman, MC Sha Rock, holds the title of being the first female Hip-Hop artist to be recorded.
Over the years, the genre has greatly transformed and its acceptance has changed. In 1984, Run-DMC became the first to have a video played on MTV. In 1988, MTV creates the show Yo! MTV Raps. In 1989, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince becomes the first act to win a Grammy award. Moving forward to 2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 was the first act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now, here we are today with it being the most influential music genre today. So, that one performance in 1981 was the start to the mainstream influence. What it became is what we see today including Kendrick’s big performance.