The Untold Truth Of The Sugarhill Gang

Posted by Almeda Bohannan on Friday, May 3, 2024

Sylvia Robinson was a minor music star in the mid-20th century. As half of the duo Mickey and Sylvia, she topped Billboard's R&B chart in 1957 with the single "Love is Strange," and again in 1973 with her solo release "Pillow Talk." In the late '60s, Robinson, along with her husband, music industry veteran Joe Robinson, started a soul and R&B label called All Platinum Records. The company had some successful soul singles in the early '70s, but by the end of the decade, the label's influence had faded and it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Robinson saw a potential financial save at a Harlem club one night in 1979 — rap, the relatively new, New York-centric party music made by guys talk-singing over R&B and disco records. "She saw where a DJ was talking and the crowd was responding to what he was saying, and this was the first time that she ever saw this before," Robinson's son, Joey, told NPR. "And she said, 'Joey, wouldn't this be a great idea to make a rap record?'"

First, Robinson would need a bass groove for rappers to rap over, so she paid 17-year-old New Jersey session musician Chip Shearin $70 to do it. Meanwhile, the label recruited some rappers, and they all made "Rapper's Delight" together. Attributed to the Sugarhill Gang, it became the first release on All Platinum's imprint, Sugar Hill Records.

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