Dr. Daudi Abe: A voice in hip-hop history and education

Dr. Daudi Abe is not only a humanities professor and the faculty coordinator of The Academy for Rising Educators (ARE) at Seattle Central College, but he is also an outspoken writer and historian. He has written pieces for The Seattle Times and The Stranger and authored the book Emerald Street: A History of Hip-hop in Seattle, published in 2020.

One of the articles Abe wrote for The Stranger this year is Anatomy of a Song: The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rappers Delight,” where he analyzed the lyrics of The Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit. Historians often credit this song as one of hip-hop’s first songs to be played on the radio and introduced to the mainstream. The article was published on Sept. 18, marking the 45th anniversary week of the song’s release. Abe has more plans to celebrate and reflect on the impact of not only “Rappers Delight” but also the evolution of hip-hop as a whole and how it may evolve in the future.

Since its birth in 1973, hip-hop has seen numerous changes over the years as it has become a more substantial and popular genre. The sounds, messages, and styles artists expressed through hip-hop grew into a worldwide influence from its start in the South Bronx. Nowadays, hip-hop has become one of the most well-known and popular genres in the world. Still, according to Abe, during its infancy, many people within the hip-hop community were worried about its preservation. Abe further explained this concern by stating: 

“It seems silly to say now, but at that time, during most of the 80s, it didn’t feel like it was a sure thing that hip-hop would last. During the 1970s, disco was arguably the most popular genre of music during that decade, and once the 80s came, it was like disco vanished into thin air.”  

Abe has observed that this sense of preservation in the hip-hop community has led to artists with different styles and sounds receiving backlash from within. This was the case for “Rappers Delight,” when it was first released, as it was the first hip-hop record to be distributed worldwide, thanks to The Sugarhill Gang’s manager Sylvia Robinson. At the time, hip-hop was in its infancy and was confined to New York City. The Sugarhill Gang, however, was based out of New Jersey.

“When that song came out, the people within the New York hip-hop community were pretty irate and had a lot of animosity towards The Sugarhill Gang and Sugarhill Records because, to them, it felt like The Sugarhill Gang were interlopers,” said Abe. 

Another example Abe mentioned is MC Hammer’s 1990 release “Can’t Touch This.” He stated, “The kind of music he was doing and the presentation he was giving was not necessarily what hip-hop had been to that point,” noting that he was one of the people who came around and made hip-hop more pop compared to its more underground beginnings. This led to artists like Ice Cube and A Tribe Called Quest accusing him of being a sellout to the pop audience and a disgrace to the culture. Regardless, MC Hammer’s album “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” became the first rap album to go diamond (10 million units sold). 

Abe also mentions how individuality has had an impact on the hip-hop scene here in Seattle, stating, “The geographic isolation of this place has traditionally given artists from here a license not to feel like they have to sound or be like anywhere else” using Sir Mix-a-Lot, Ismael Butler from Digable Planets and Shabazz Palaces, and Macklemore as examples.

When talking about the cultural diversity of hip-hop, Abe says, “That’s really what rap is all about; it’s talking about who you are and what it’s like where you from, and in that sense, I feel like that is what separated hip-hop music as a genre from these other places.”

Abe recently hosted a live annotation of “Rapper’s Delight” with Charles Mudede, the co-writer of the article, and DJ Vitamin D at the Clock-Out Lounge. He is currently hoping to host more hip-hop-oriented events like this in the future.