Sport

Recorded in 1973 for Lightnin' Rod's Hustlers Convention album, a groundbreaking collaboration between former Last Poets member Jalal Mansur Nuriddin and members of Funk Inc. The sessions combined spoken-word street narratives with live funk instrumentation and featured musicians from the Prestige Records jazz-funk roster. Sport was part of one of the earliest recordings to fuse rhythmic street storytelling with funk grooves, anticipating many of the techniques later associated with hip-hop. The track helped establish Hustlers Convention as a cult classic within both spoken-word and funk circles. The recording has been heavily mined by hip-hop producers and is frequently cited as a precursor to rap music. Its combination of narrative flow, slang-rich delivery and deep funk backing continues to influence artists, DJs and crate diggers decades after release.