Kurtis Blow

**Kurtis Blow** (born **Kurtis Walker**; August 9, 1959) is an American rapper. He sang many major songs, like "Christmas Rappin'", "Basketball" and "The Breaks". In 1980, "The Breaks" was the first rap single that was certified gold.

He was born in The Bronx, New York City.

In 1979, he was the first rapper signed to Mercury Records.

### Studio albums

|rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:11em;"|Title|rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:16em;"|Album details|colspan="2" scope="col"|Peak chart positions|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Released: September 29, 1980 * * Formats: CD (re-issue), LP, Cassette|71|10||||
|* Released: June 15, 1981 * Label: Mercury (US), Polygram (EU) * Formats: LP, Cassette|137|35||||
|* Released: 1982 * * Formats: LP, Cassette, digital download|167|38||||
|* Released: 1983 * * Formats: CD (re-issue), LP|—|—||||
|* Released: 1984 * Label: Mercury/Polydor * Formats: LP, Cassette|83|18||||
|* Released: October, 1985 * Label: Mercury (US), Club (UK) * Formats: LP, Cassette|153|18||||
|* Released: 1986 * Label: Mercury/Polygram (US), Club (UK) * Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download|196|16||||
|* Released: 1988 * Label: Mercury * Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download|—|84||||
|colspan="12" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart.|||||

### Other albums

- _Kurtis Blow Presents: Hip Hop Ministry_ (2007, EMI Gospel)
- _Just Do It_ (2008, Krush Groove/Trinity/B4 Ent.) <small>(with The Trinity)</small>
- _Father, Son, and Holy Ghost_ (2009, Krush Groove/Trinity/B4 Ent.) <small>(with The Trinity)</small>
- _30th Anniversary of The Breaks CD_ (2010, Krush Records)

### Compilation albums

- _The Breaks_ (1986, Polygram)
- _The Best of Kurtis Blow_ (1994, Mercury)
- _Best of... Rappin_' (2002, Spectrum Music)
- _20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kurtis Blow_ (2003, Mercury)

### Singles and EPs

|scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year|scope="col" rowspan="2"|Song|scope="col" colspan="4"|Peak chart positions||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="1"|1979|"Christmas Rappin|align=center|—|align=center|52|align=center|―|align=center|30|
|rowspan="2"|1980|"The Breaks"|align=center|9|align=center|4|align=center|87|align=center|47|
|"Throughout Your Years"|align=center|75|align=center|31|align=center|―|align=center|—|||
|rowspan="1"|1981|"Hard Times"|align=center|―|align=center|75|align=center|―|align=center|―|
|rowspan="1"|1982|"Tough"|align=center|—|align=center|37|align=center|―|align=center|—|
|rowspan="2"|1983|"Party Time?"|align=center|39|align=center|35|align=center|―|align=center|67|
|"Nervous"|align=center|—|align=center|—|align=center|―|align=center|—|||
|rowspan="3"|1984|"8 Million Stories"|align=center|—|align=center|45|align=center|—|align=center|—|
|"Ego Trip"|align=center|—|align=center|—|align=center|—|align=center|—|||
|"Basketball"|align=center|―|align=center|29|align=center|71|align=center|―|||
|rowspan="2"|1985|"America"|align=center|―|align=center|74|align=center|—|align=center|―|
|"If I Ruled the World"|align=center|25|align=center|16|align=center|―|align=center|24|||
|rowspan="2"|1986|"I'm Chillin|align=center|―|align=center|20|align=center|―|align=center|64|
|"The Bronx"|align=center|―|align=center|—|align=center|―|align=center|—|||
|rowspan="1"|1988|"Back by Popular Demand"|align=center|―|align=center|—|align=center|―|align=center|—|
|colspan="12" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart.||||||||||