Rapper's Delight: 30 years of hip-hop

Rapper's Delight sold more than 8m copies worldwide

It is 30 years since Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhill Gang hit the US charts and became the first hip-hop hit record.

It took the sound of MCs rapping over beats supplied by DJs from the streets of New York and introduced it to the wider world.

So how did this famous record come about?

Master Gee and Wonder Mike are two of the original members of the Sugarhill Gang.

While many will identify hip hop with music, fans talk about the 'five pillars of hip hop' which include beat-boxing and graffiti.

DJ Trevor Nelson explains.

Hip-hop was born in the US but can now be heard around the world.

So why does it matter? The BBC's James Fletcher finds out.

Dam is a leading Palestinian Rap group from the city of Lod.

James spoke to the band's three members, Tamer Nafar, his brother Suhell and Mahmoud Jreri.

He asked them how they came to be influenced by hip hop music in the first place.

The World Today brought together three musicians and their versions of Rapper's Delight.

Senagalese rapper Papa Moussa Lo, also known as Waterflo, Mr Reo, a rapper who grew up in New York to Haitian parents, and Lou Piensa, who now lives in Montreal but grew up in Ecuador, Cuba and Algeria.

First broadcast 13 & 14 October 2009