Spyder-D

In 1980, Queens native Duane Hughes, performing as Spyder-D, stood among rap’s earliest recording artists. That year he issued two singles, one of them the pronoun-laced, Slave-adelic track “Big Apple Rappin’ (National Rappin’ Anthem).” Cut in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while he studied at Eastern Michigan University in nearby Ypsilanti, the 12-inch appeared on Newtroit, the label he ran with Detroiter Tito Lewis. Once back in New York, Hughes continued releasing singles across the decade on Telestar Cassettes, Profile, and B Boy; among them were “Smerphies Dance,” the Nu Shooz-referencing “I Can’t Wait (To Rock the Mike),” and “Try to Bite Me Now.” He also produced dozens of tracks for Sparky-D, Mr. Magic, and Capt. Rock, and, under the alias B+, delivered the vocoder-ized “B-Beat Classic” for West End. Sporadic Spyder-D material surfaced in the 1990s and 2000s, yet the 2010s brought renewed activity as singles and full-lengths emerged digitally on the revived Newtroit imprint.