Even though Rap got its official start in 1979 with "Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang, Rap was nothing new in R & B. Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Isaac Hayes, Betty Wright and Marvin Gaye incorporated Rap in their music.
One of the first singers to make talking an important part of her performance was Millie Jackson.
Millie was born July 15, 1944 in the state of Georgia. As a child, she lost her mother and moved to New York where she was raised by her father. She spent much of her childhood in Newark. By the time she was a teenager she moved to Brooklyn with her aunt.
Wright was 20 when she started to sing professionally around New York and made her first record in 1969 for MGM.
In 1971 Millie Jackson moved to Spring Records where she began to have her big hits. The first top ten for Millie was "Ask Me What You Want."
It was in 1974 that Millie Jackson started to incorporate those long raunchy-spoken segments into her music that made her famous.
Her album "Caught Up" featured her version of the Luther Ingram hit "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right."
Millie Jackson was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in Mississippi in 2015. A Happy Birthday to Millie Jackson.
Featured tracks:
"Rappers Delight" (remix) - Sugar Hill Gang
"Ego Tripping Out" - Marvin Gaye
"All the Way Lover" - Millie Jackson
"Hurt So Good" - Millie Jackson
"My Heart Took a Licking" - Millie Jackson
"Ask Me What You Want" - Millie Jackson
"The Rap/If Loving You Is Wrong" - Millie Jackson
