The Sugarhill Gang

by The Sugarhill Gang

Overview

Although the Sugarhill Gang didn't invent hip-hop, they were the first rap act to have a huge international hit. Released in 1979, "Rapper's Delight" was millions of listeners' first exposure to hip-hop -- before that, very few people outside of New York even knew what hip-hop was. The Sugarhill Gang were also among the first rap acts to record a full-length LP; when this self-titled debut album came out in 1980, the vast majority of old-school MCs were only providing 12" singles. So The Sugarhill Gang is a historically important album even though it is a bit uneven. While "Rapper's Delight" and "Rapper's Reprise" (which features the Sequence, hip-hop's first all-female group) are excellent, most of the material is merely decent. And the ironic thing is that half of the songs aren't even rap. "Bad News Don't Bother Me" and "Here I Am," both of which find the Sugarhill Gang singing instead of rapping, are romantic R&B slow jams -- and "Sugarhill Groove" is a sleek disco-funk number that hints at Roy Ayers. So this LP can hardly be called the work of hip-hop purists; in 1980, Sugarhill Records leader Sylvia Robinson (herself a veteran R&B singer) evidently felt that putting out an all-rap album would be risky. But, while The Sugarhill Gang isn't a masterpiece, it's still an album that hip-hop historians will find interesting. ~ Alex Henderson

Product Details

Release Date:	06/14/2024
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8719262035485
Rank:	7762

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Sugarhill Gang   Primary Artist
The Sequence   Primary Artist,Vocals
Guy O'Brien   Rap
Brian Horton   Drums
Sylvia Robinson   Vibraphone
Keith LeBlanc   Drums
Doug Wimbish   Bass
Michael Wright   Rap
Skip McDonald   Guitar
Craig Derry   Congas,Percussion
Henry Jackson   Rap
Nate Edmonds   Keyboards,Special Effects
Billy Jones   Special Effects

Technical Credits

John Reed   Concept
Sylvia Inc. Productions   Producer
Michael Wright   Composer
B. Reynolds   Composer
Guy O'Brien   Composer
Dude   Artwork
Ray Smith   Composer,Composer
Bernard Roland   Composer
Moncy Plummer Smith III   Composer
Gregory Rodgers   Composer
Sylvia Robinson   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Bernard Edwards   Composer,Lyricist
Nile Rodgers   Composer,Lyricist
Gordon Skene   Musician
The Sugarhill Gang   Musician
Henry Jackson   Composer,Composer
Craig Derry   Composer
Big Bank Hank   Composer
Nate Edmonds   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Billy Jones   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Brenda Reynolds   Composer
Demo Phillips   Composer