“Magic’s Wand” by Whodini
Whodini’s “Magic’s Wand” serves as an ode to one John “Mr. Magic” Rivas. Mr. Magic (1956-2009) was a genuine pioneer of rap music, being the first radio DJ to actually air a show centered on hip-hop. Well as you can see from the release date of this song, Whodini are pretty damn old school themselves. Yet as indicated in the second verse, even as early as 1982 rap already had an established history amongst the citizens of the ‘hood (of New York City). But during this time it was a true underground art form, until people like Mr. Magic began taking it mainstream.
And outside as serving as a tribute to Rivas, the Whodini boys are celebrating hip-hop culture in general. For instance, they give a shoutout to the Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight (1979), which is considered to be the first rap song to ever blow up. And overall, in its own way, Magic’s Wand actually predicts the rise of rap music.
Facts about “Magic’s Wand”
This song was written by Mr. Magic, its producer, Thomas Dolby and Whodini member Jalil Hutchins. In fact as the story goes Jalil, who was an intern for Mr. Magic, penned the tune as early as 1980 as a shoutout to his boss.
Hutchins idealized “Magic’s Wand” as a duet, so he enlisted another rapper, Ecstasy (aka John Fletcher, 1964-2002), to perform on it. The song proved appealing enough that it caught the attention of Jive Records, one of the early major labels in rap music. So they signed the pair – along with a DJ called Grandmaster Dee – and dubbed them Whodini. And the group’s moniker is actually an allusion to the title of this track.
The music video to this song was not the first in the history of rap music, as some reports suggest. But it was undoubtedly one of the very earliest.
Jive Records released “Magic’s Wand” in 1982. That would make it Whodini’s first release ever, being the lead single from their eponymous debut album, which came out the following year. And it did go on to appear on two Billboard charts, Dance Club Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (which was called the Black Singles chart back then).
