Blondie's “Rapture” made the band the first act to combine singing and rapping in a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1.
Released in 1981, the song blends new wave, disco, funk, and an extended spoken-rap passage. Debbie Harry delivers the vocal, while the lyrics reference hip-hop figures Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.
“Rapture” topped the chart for two weeks in March 1981. Its achievement is often described as the first Billboard No. 1 to feature rap, although earlier pop records had included spoken or rhythmic vocal passages. The song helped introduce hip-hop vocabulary to a much larger mainstream audience.
Blondie had already reached No. 1 with “Heart of Glass” and “Call Me.” “Rapture” was the group’s fourth and final U.S. chart-topper.