Kurt Walker better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rapper

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 and record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

. "The Breaks

The Breaks

The Breaks is an American 1999 comedy film written by and starring Mitch Mullany and directed by Eric Meza. The plot involves a day in the life of Derrick King, an Irish kid raised by a black family in Los Angeles, as he is kicked out of his house and suffers various other mishaps before eventually...

", a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from his 1980 eponymous debut album

Kurtis Blow (album)

The album Kurtis Blow was rapper Kurtis Blow's self-titled debut, released in 1980. It includes the famous song "The Breaks", that was often sampled later in hip-hop records, mainly for its introduction made by Blow's a cappella vocal, and for the drum break, giving a wordplay dimension to the...

, is the first certified gold record

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 rap song.
In 1979, aged twenty, Kurtis became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, Mercury

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

, which released "Christmas Rappin'". It sold over 400,000 copies.