"King Tim III (Personality Jock)" is a 1979 song by the

Fatback Band The Fatback Band (later, simply Fatback) is an American funk and disco band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The Fatback Band is most known for their R&B hits, "(Do the) Spanish Hustle", "I Like Girls", "Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Mone ...

from the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

album ''XII''. Released on March 25, 1979, a few months before "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip-hop track by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip-hop mus ...

" (which is widely regarded as the first commercially released hip hop song), this song is often cited as the beginning of recorded hip hop. The title refers to vocalist Tim Washington. The song was originally the B-side of the 7-inch single, with the A-side "You're My Candy Sweet" a mid-tempo disco song. However the song stalled at #67 after 4-weeks on the R&B chart and was replaced the following week with "King Tim III (Personality Jock)" on the chart. It peaked at #26 on the R&B chart and stayed on for 11 weeks.

Origins

The origin of "King Tim III" starts when Bill was in his studio with his co-producer Jerry Thomas or as Bill called him "his right hand man". Bill said to him "Jerry, look at this album we doing , it's the Bad Back Seven album." Jerry asks him what he want him to do and Curtis says "I don't know... let's do a rap man!" Jerry said the following sentence, "Do a rap? Hell, we can't even talk!" Curtis recalls, "One of the roaders is in the studio with us... Avery, and he said "Hey man, I got a buddy who lives up there in the projects, he's a great rapper.", and I said "Can he rap?" and he said, "Yeah man!" and I said "Bring him in, tomorrow night." and he brought in Timothy Washington and I had to track him down 8 hours in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and everything. I flew him in on the trip and I said "Hey man, go in there and start rapping." , and he just started rapping... and that's how it all came about."

References

External links

Fatback Band official siteBill Curtis Music
1979 songs 1979 singles Fatback Band songs American hip hop songs {{1970s-single-stub