The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap song to use a sample

The Fatback Band‘s “Kim Tim III” released in 1979 was the first commercially released hip-hop song and it used an original beat, making “Rapper’s Delight” the first hip-hop/rap song to use a sample.

Read: “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang was recorded in one take

The Sugarhill Gang sampled “Good Times” by Chic, without permission because no precedent existed for clearing a sample at the time. Every DJ at the Bronx block parties carried “Good Times” by Chic because the groove was easy to loop.