A Holiday Gift! Emerald Street Boys "Christmas WRap" re-release (1983)
Popularity in the UK Revives Seattle’s Historic Holiday Rap Song Thirty-Five Years Later:
Watch and Listen HERE!
Seattle, Wash., Dec. 19, 2018 – Rainier Avenue Radio is re-releasing the 35-year-old “Rapper’s Delight” style Christmas song, Christmas WRap for the 2018 holiday season.
iheartradio: https://www.iheart.com/artist/emerald-street-boys-32671491/albums/christmas-wrap-66676678/
iTunes & Apple Music: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1447402227?ls=1&app=itunes
Youtube Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oc16S5mn3lQ&feature=share
With its recent popularity in the UK, the song reignited the celebrity of the Emerald Street Boys who set the tone for the first generation of Seattle rap artists. Christmas WRap was the first rap record released on vinyl in Seattle by a Seattle artist.
The re-release of the album is a holiday gift to Seattle for the love and support both Rainier Avenue Radio and the Emerald Street Boys have received. The song can be downloaded on most media channels starting this week including iTunes, Google Play, YouTube and more. They are excited to bring back a bit of Seattle hip hop culture as well as holiday magic.
As an added bonus you can win a signed copy of the original album on vinyl by downloading the instrumental version on http://rainieravenueradio.world and uploading your version of the rap video on YouTube and sharing on your social media channels using the hashtags #rainieravenueradio #christmaswrap and #emeraldstreetboys. The station will pick its favorite winners and have them appear live to perform their version on the radio station.
Rainier Avenue Radio founder and producer of the album, Tony Benton, better known as radio legend Tony B, felt Seattle needed to show off its hip-hop roots to its own community. The historic album was featured in MoPOP’s History of Hip Hop exhibit. Its sound inspired many future Seattle hip hop artists. The track also features music written and performed by the renowned Teleclere.
The Emerald Street Boys were a rap/dance crew composed of three emcees: Captain Crunch (James Croone), MC Sweet J (R. Curtis Jamerson), and MC Sugar Bear (Edward Wells). The group built up their fan-base by performing at neighborhood house parties, dances, and talent shows. Their audience grew: they performed at the Empire Plaza, various CAMP (Central Area Motivation Program) events, the Black Community Festival opened for the Gap Band as well as New York's Treacherous 3.
Rainier Avenue Radio (rainieravenueradio.world) is an independent multi-media resource which provides opportunities for the communities of South Seattle, Southeast Seattle, Renton, and the Central District to become informed and to engage in critical issues, compelling stories, local news, community events, and the arts, while also providing training in journalism, broadcast, film, photography social/digital media and 21st century job skills as viable career paths.
Watch and Listen to the Instrumental version HERE!
