Captain Rapp

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title: "Captain Rapp" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "living-people", "american-satirists", "american-dance-musicians", "west-coast-hip-hop-musicians", "american-boogie-musicians", "american-electro-musicians", "musicians-from-los-angeles", "rappers-from-los-angeles"] description: "American hip hop/post-disco musician" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Rapp" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American hip hop/post-disco musician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Captain Rapp
landscape	yes
birth_name	Larry Earl Glenn
origin	Los Angeles, California
years_active	1981–present
genre	Conscious rap
Post-disco
West Coast hip hop
label	Saturn Records
JDC Records
Rappers Rapp Records
associated_acts	Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
::

| name = Captain Rapp | image = | caption = | image_size = | landscape = yes | birth_name = Larry Earl Glenn | alias = | origin = Los Angeles, California | years_active = 1981–present | genre = Conscious rap Post-disco West Coast hip hop | label = Saturn Records JDC Records Rappers Rapp Records | associated_acts = Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis | website = | current_members = | past_members =

Captain Rapp is the stage name of Larry Earl Glenn, an American hip hop/post-disco musician, producer and West Coast Rap pioneer.

He is best known for his politically conscious song "Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)", which was a West Coast response to Grandmaster Flash's "The Message."

History

Glenn's musical career started in 1981 when he was signed to a small indie label called Rappers Rapp Records. His first record, party-oriented, "Gigolo Rapp" was a minor hit on the East Coast yet the record failed in his home state.

In 1983, his most successful single "Bad Times" came out on Saturn Records and reached number 23 on Billboard Dance Charts. The single was arranged and performed by emerging Contemporary R&B moguls Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. with Rich Cason.

In 1992, Glenn recorded a sequel to his previous hit single, titled "Bad Times, Part 2: The Continuance."

Themes

"Bad Times" lyrically touches sensitive topics, including unemployment, child sexual abuse, AIDS, Salvadoran Civil War and even nuclear war, in contrast to uptempo synth-funk melody and soulful vocals.

The song is a West Coast variant of "The Message" whereas the title is lampooning a name of the most sampled song in hip-hop history, "Good Times" by Chic.

Discography

Charts

::data[format=table] | Year | Song | Label | Chart positions | U.S. Dance | U.S. R&B | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1981 | "The Gigolo Rapp" (with Disco Daddy) | Rappers Rapp | – | – | | | 1983 | "Bad Times" | Saturn | No. 23 | – | | | 1984 | "When Doves Cry Rapp" | Rappers Rapp | – | – | | | 1985 | "Bite Em" | Evejim | – | – | | | 1985 | "Agony" | Evejim | – | – | | ::

Singles

;"Bad Times" ::data[format=table]

12" / SAT-2003
::

References

References

1. "(( Captain Rapp ))". Allmusic.
2. Cross, Brian. (1994). "It's not about a salary--: rap, race, and resistance in Los Angeles". Verso, 1994, (originally) the University of Michigan.
3. Larkin, Colin. (1994). "It's not about a salary--: rap, race, and resistance in Los Angeles". Guinness Publishing, 1994 & the University of California (originally).
4. Rescher, Nicholas. (1998). "Getting Present as an Art: Predicting the future: an introduction to the theory of forecasting". SUNY Press.
5. "Captain Rapp on Billboard charts". Allmusic, Billboard.
6. "Captain Rapp discography". Discogs.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::