Hip-hop entered into the consciousness of mainstream urban and non urban America starting in the late 1970s. “Rapper’s Delight” recorded in 1979 by the New Jersey-based group, the Sugar Hill Gang, was rap music’s first commercial hit. Rappers formed remixes, or new songs by adding their voices to live recorded instruments or instrumental verses, which was similar to Jamaican dub tracks. Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” (1982) laid the foundation for sampling, as it used a short, angular melodic phrase from “Trans-Europe Express” (1977). The 1980s brought forth MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology, which allowed for a faster and more convenient way to produce hip-hop music, prior to copyright laws that later restricted sampling music. Digitally recorded phrases (samples) were used almost exclusively by the mid-1980s, taking taking the placenof electro-funck’s synthesized beats. Women have been a part of hip hop since the beginning, despite it appearing a male dominated genre to the public. Some female artists were popularized through “answer” songs by the mid-1980s, which ridiculed popular songs previously recorded by male acts. An example is Roxanne Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge,” responding to UTFO’s 1984 hit song “Roxanne, Roxanne.”