Blondie - Rapture

Year Released: 1981
Genre: New Wave / Funk / Early Hip-Hop / Disco

Description:

“Rapture” by Blondie is a groundbreaking 7″ single released in January 1981 on Chrysalis Records. Featured on the band’s fifth studio album, Autoamerican, the song stands as one of the first mainstream pop singles to prominently feature rap vocals, bridging the emerging New York hip-hop scene with the art-pop and disco sensibilities of the early 1980s.

Built around a smooth, mid-tempo groove with elements of funk and post-disco rhythm, “Rapture” blends Bernie Worrell-style synthesizer bass, crisp drum machine patterns, and Nile Rodgers-inspired guitar licks. Over this mix, Debbie Harry delivers both sung verses and an iconic rap that name-drops hip-hop pioneers Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, bringing street-level culture into the mainstream pop consciousness.

The single was a massive commercial success, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — making it the first song featuring rap vocals ever to top the U.S. charts. The 7″ release typically features the single edit of “Rapture” on the A-side and “Walk Like Me” or another Autoamerican track on the B-side, depending on regional pressing.

Musically, “Rapture” sits at the crossroads of new wave sophistication and urban funk, its relaxed groove and offbeat lyrical flow anticipating later crossovers between rock, dance, and hip-hop. Its accompanying video, directed by Keith MacMillan, became an MTV staple and further cemented Blondie’s reputation as cultural intermediaries between punk, disco, and rap scenes in early-’80s New York.

The track’s rhythmic sensibility and distinctive bassline have inspired and been sampled by multiple hip-hop artists, most notably on KRS-One’s “Step Into a World (Rapture’s Delight)” (1997), which directly reinterprets its melody and groove. “Rapture” thus stands as both a pioneering pop-rap experiment and an enduring source material for later generations of producers and emcees.