According to a new article from Rolling Stone Country, it may have been David and Howard Bellamy who originally instituted today's popular country rap or "hick-hop." Twenty-seven years ago when the Bellamy Brothers released their single, Country Rap they may have inadvertently set a whole chain of events into motion.

Howard Bellamy notes, "I'm not sure if they're giving us the credit or the blame but we did record 'Country Rap' in 1987. I guess we were ahead of our time by 27 years."

In the Rolling Stone Country article, the Bellamys' "Country Rap" (written and performed by David and Howard Bellamy) is listed as the first event on a chronological timeline of the evolution of "hick-hop."

Rolling Stone Country journalist Jewly Hight writes:David and Howard Bellamy came to country with a proclivity for incorporating far-flung stylistic sensibilities. They dabbled in reggae early in the Eighties, then reached Number 31 on Billboard’s Country Singles chart in 1987 with "Country Rap." It was clear from the song's hook that the brothers meant it as rap rap: "We got fatback/That's a fact/If you don't know, that's a country rap." They chanted their agrarian-themed lyrics in a sly, slack cadence over a seamless, funky groove, and even made what sounded like an oblique reference to "Theme From Shaft."

"We were bro-country when bro-country wasn't cool," says David Bellamy. "But now I think we may be eating crow. In our new music video, ‘Boobs’ we take a jab at country rappers. Oops."