Who inspired Debbie Harry's "Rapture," the first rap song to top the charts? Before blondieofficial brought rap to the masses, there was The Funky 4 + 1. The “plus one” was MC Sha-Rock, hip-hop’s first female MC who ruled the male-dominated South Bronx hip-hop scene of the ‘70s. Sha-Rock, a.k.a. the Mother of the Mic, was a b-girl (or breakdancer) before joining The Funky 4. The group's rotating cast included DJ Breakout, Guy Williams, Keith Keith, K.K. Rockwell, Rodney Stone, djjazzyjeff, and rahiem_grandmaster_furious_5. The group became so popular that they received a call from Debbie Harry to perform on the Valentine’s Day episode of nbcsnl in 1981, becoming the first hip-hop group to perform on national television in the United States. As the forebear to contemporary artists like lilkimthequeenbee, nickiminaj, missymisdemeanorelliott, theestallion, and iamcardib, Sha-Rock deserves an important place in music history. Learn more about her legacy at the #LinkinBio. All images ...