White Lines is a hip-hop-funk song by Melle Mel, released in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. It is one of the first hip-hop songs to succeed internationally. The song waas inspired by the NYC cocaine epidemic of that time. The bassline is sampled from a performance of the Sugar Hill house band (featuring bassist Doug Wimbish) covering "Cavern", a single by post-punk band Liquid Liquid.
Fun Fact: Melle Mel is such a pioneer that he was the first rapper to ever call himself an MC.