1976
* A group of party promoters called the Force stumble across a young DJ named Kool DJ Kurt. One particularly bold and aggressive member of the Force is a young man named **Russell Simmons.**
*1977 *
* **The legendary Rock Steady Crew of breakdancers is founded in the Bronx.**
* The Crash Crew, one of the first recorded MC crews, forms in Harlem.
* Russell "Rush" Simmons moves the Force to Queens and convinces Kool DJ Kurt to begin rapping. Simmons decides to change Kurt's name to **Kurtis Blow **and enlists his kid brother, Joey, to be Kurt's DJ. Joey changes his name to **'DJ Run.'**
*1978 *
* DJing, up to this point the primary force in hip-hop, begins to take a backseat to MCing.
*1979
*
* The Cold Crush Brothers form after Almight KG meets DJ Charlie Chase.
* Wendy Clark aka 'Lady B' begins spinning hip-hop records on WHAT 1340 AM in Philadelphia;furthering hip-hop's expansion outside of New York. Later that year, she also becomes one of hip-hop's first female artists when she releases "To the Beat Y'all."
* The Funky Four+One is forms with one of hip-hop's first female MCs, Sha Rock.
* The funk band Fatback releases 'King Tim III (Personality Jock).' Though it doesn't gain much attention, it is the first mainstream rap single.
* **Under manager Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow becomes the first rapper to sign a record deal with a major label.**
** * Sylvia Robinson founds Sugarhill Records and, after hearing a bootleg of The Cold Crush Brothers, decides to put together a rap group called 'The Sugarhill Gang.'
**
*** The Sugarhill Gang releases 'Rapper's Delight.' Built on a sample of Chic's disco hit 'Good Times' and written by Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, it goes on to become hip-hop's first hit and mainstream America's first exposure to rap music.**
* In order to capitalize on the growth of MCing in hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash recruits three of his friends, Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, Melvin "Melle Mel" and Nathaniel "Kid Creole" Glover, who perform as The 3 MCs. Soon, they add Guy "Raheim" Williams and Eddie "Scorpio" Morris and change their name to **Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.**
*1980 *
* The new wave band **Blondie releases the single 'Rapture'. It features a rapping vocal by lead singer Debbie Harry and mentions Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, furthering hip-hop's push into the mainstream.**
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* With "Rapper's Delight" still riding the charts, **Kurtis Blow **releases his first single, "Christmas Rappin'". Blow's second single, **"The Breaks," is a hit; and becomes hip-hop's first gold single.** In his shows, Blow now sometimes allows DJ Run to rhyme with him.
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* At a DJ battle in Two-Fifths Park in Hollis, Queens; DJ Run and his friend, Darryl "Easy Dee" McDaniels, meet a young DJ named Jason "Jazzy Jase" Mizell.
* Treacherous Three release "The New Rap Language" as a single. It incorporates a new style of rapping, dubbed "speed-rapping."
*1981 *
** * Grandmaster Flash releases "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On the Wheels of Steel", the first record to only showcase turntablism.
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* Russell Simmons helps his little brother, Run, record a song called "Street Kid." It goes nowhere, but Run still wants to record. After hearing Run's friend, Darryl (now calling himself "D"), **Russell begrudgingly makes Run and D a duo.
* **Whodini becomes the first rap group to shoot an official video for their song "Magic's Wand."
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