THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

594-Kurtis Blow-The Breaks.

1980-Number 47 single.

Best Bit At 1.26. There is no cussing on this ‘Old School Rap,’ so you can let your granny listen to it.

Kurtis Blow was born Kurtis Walker on August 9th, 1959, in New York City, United States, he is a Rapper, songwriter, music producer, DJ, actor, and he became an ordained minister in 2009, founding ‘The Hip-Hop Church,’ in Harlem. New York. In 1979 at the age of 20, he became the first Rapper to be signed to a major record label, ‘Mercury Records.’ Kurtis Blow has produced, or collaborated with other ‘Hip-Hop’ artists, including Wyclef Jean, The Fat Boys, and Run DMC, (see also best songs 305 and 113) DJ Run (Joseph Simmons) actually started his career being billed as ‘The Son of Kurtis Blow.’

The discography of Kurtis Blow includes seven studio Albums released between 1980-1988, and 28 singles released between 1979-1999, there are also five extended plays, two collaborative Albums, with the group ‘The Trinity,’ and one with the group ‘Urban Gypsys available, as well as 11 official compilation Albums, and one live Album. He has never had an Album, or single chart on the mainstream American Billboard top 40 charts, but has had several entries on the Billboard ‘Dance Club Songs’ chart, and the Billboard ‘Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ chart, with ‘The Breaks’ peaking at Number 9 and Number 4 on those respective charts. In the UK, Kurtis Blow has had two top 40 entries, with his debut single ‘Christmas Rappin,” making Number 30 in 1979, and ‘If I Ruled the World reaching Number 24 in 1985.

‘The Breaks’ was the first of three singles released from Kurtis Blow’s self titled debut Album from September 1980, and was co-written by Kurtis Blow, Robert Ford Jr., (1949-2020) James B. Moore, Russell Simmons, and Larry Smith, (1952-2014) with the production being by J.B. Moore, and Robert Ford Jr. Robert Ford Jr. was born on June 30th, 1949, in New York City, United States, he died on May 19th, 2020, at the age of 70. It was while working as a journalist for Billboard magazine in 1978 that Ford wrote the first article about ‘Hip-Hop’ to appear in any major publication. He left Billboard a year later to become a record producer, and songwriter, going on to co-write, and co-produce many of Kurtis Blow’s songs. It was Ford and J.B. Moore who co-wrote ‘Christmas Rappin” in 1979, offering it to Kurtis Blow, and through it’s success, leading to Kurtis Blow signing with ‘Mercury Records,’ on which he released all seven of his solo studio Albums. It was also in 1979 that Robert Ford Jr. first met Joseph Simmons, (DJ Run) who then introduced him to his older brother Russell Simmons. Ford began taking Russell Simmons to music industry events, and encouraged him to become a record producer, and he also encouraged Kurtis Blow to hire Russell Simmons as his manager. Russell Simmons would go on to co-found ‘ Def Jam Recordings’ with Rick Ruben in 1984.

Kurtis Blow wanted to make a tribute song for all of the ‘Break Dancers’ who lived in and around the South Bronx, and Harlem in the early 1970’s. He took his idea for the song to J.B. Moore, and Robert Ford Jr. who suggested expanding the concept of other implied meanings for ‘breaks,’ such as the good, or bad breaks in life. In 1980 there were no radio stations playing ‘Rap,’ or ‘Hip-Hop’ music, so radio play was minimal. Kurtis Blow has spoken about how the song came to the attention of the general public,’There was no real marketing for the song, no plan. We just wanted to make a kick-ass record, and that’s exactly what we did. The clubs ate it up. You couldn’t find a club in America during the summer of 1980 that would not play this song around 12, 1 o’clock in the morning.’

Kurtis Blow performed ‘The Breaks’ on the legendary American music show ‘Soul Train,’ whose host and creator Don Cornelius (1936-2012) told the Rapper after his performance,’It doesn’t make sense to old guys like me… I don’t understand why they love it so much.’ Cornelius was expressing how many of his generation felt about the emergence of ‘Hip-Hop.’

‘Clap your hands, everybody, if you got what it takes, ’cause I’m Kurtis Blow and I want you to know that these are the breaks. Brakes on a bus, brakes on a car, breaks to make you a superstar.’