Blondie’s “Rapture” became the first rap song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song appeared on Blondie’s 1980 album Autoamerican and was released as a single in January 1981. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1981, making it the first song containing a rap performance to reach the chart’s top position.
Debbie Harry delivers the song’s vocal, while its extended ending includes a rap passage referencing figures such as Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash. The track blended new wave, disco, funk, and hip-hop at a time when rap was still developing a national commercial audience.
“Rapture” is sometimes confused with “Rapper’s Delight,” which was an earlier breakthrough rap hit but did not reach number one on the Hot 100. Blondie’s record therefore marks a specific chart milestone, not the first commercial rap single overall.