It is with very deep sadness and regret that Hit The Floor can report that Sylvia Robinson, the woman who took the first steps to popularise rap and hip hop with the signing of the Sugarhill Gang and the establishment of Sugar Hill Records, has passed away at the age of 75. Ms Robinson died in New York on Thursday, after suffering with congestive heart failure.
Originally a recording artist herself, recording blues sides and soul numbers as Little Sylvia, she will perhaps be most remembered for the US R&B Number 1, ‘Love Is Strange’ with Mickey Baker. The song was featured in the hit movie, ‘Dirty Dancing’.
It was in the late 1970s when she formed Sugar Hill with two partners, and recruited three unknown rappers, who became the Sugarhill Gang. Their debut single, 1979’s ‘Rappers Delight’, is considered to be the first rap record to garner commercial support, reaching number four on the R&B chart, and charting at 36 on the pop chart. Rap’s slow but significant rise to the most popular music on the planet can be traced back to this point.
Sylvia is survived by three children and a number of grand and great-grandchildren. In tribute, here is a video for ‘Rappers Delight’.
