Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" (1980) was one of the first hip-hop records released on a major label, and it became the first certified gold rap single. The track is built on a heavy, funky groove — part live band, part drum machine — and Blow's charismatic delivery turned the concept of "breaks" (bad luck, tough situations) into an irresistible party anthem. The irony of the title wasn't lost on anyone: a song about life going wrong that makes you want to dance.

"The Breaks" helped establish hip-hop as a commercially viable genre, proving to major labels that rap music could sell records. Its significance is as much cultural and industrial as it is musical — it opened doors that every hip-hop artist who followed would walk through.