Hip Hop Group: Sugar Hill Gang
(L-R Master Gee, Big Bank Hank, and Wonder Mike. Image Courtesy of complex.com)
Background
Sugar Hill Gang made the first popular Hip-hop song called "Rappers Delight" which was also the first hip-hop song to top the billboard chart at #36.
Sugar Hill Gang are from Englewood, New Jersey and have been in the hip-hop industry from 1979-1984, also from 1994-present. The members of the group consisted of Micheal "Wonder Mike" Wright, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, and Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien. They were assembled into a group by producer Sylvia Robinson. The group was named after the Sugar Hill, Harlem, neighborhood.
(Hip-Hop Pioneers Sugar Hill Gang receiving their gold record on their hit single "Rapper's Delight" in 1980. Image Courtesy of Pintrest.com)
(Sugar Hill Gang very first music video to their single "Rapper's Delight" released in 1979.)
Accomplishments
- The Sugar Hill Gang is an American hip-hop group known for their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight".
- The first rap single to become a Top 40 hit (#36) on the Billboard Hot 100.
- "Rapper's Delight" is considered as the #2 greatest hip-hop song on The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop songs ever.
- In 2014 the song was inducted the the Grammy Hall of Fame.
- The song is ranked 251 on the Rolling Stones magazine list.
- The song sold over 2 million copies in 1979.
Impact
The Sugar Hill Gang opened the doors for African Americans into the music industry through hip hop, a genre today dominated by majority African Americans. “Rapper's Delight” is still a major influence on today's hip hop genre. Rap icons like Snoop Dogg and P Diddy both sampled the Sugar Hill Gangs music during the course of their hip-hop careers. The song "Rapper's Delight" are in many commercials to date like Evian water where they had babies on roller skates promoting the the water and dancing on skates through the entire commercial. Also, in movies like Kangaroo Jack (video below) because of its groovy, exciting, classic beat and catchy lyrics.
Famous Quote / Lyric
"I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip-hop, and you don't stop the rock it to the bang-bang, boogie say "up jump" the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat". said by Wonder Mike. Which was the very first line of the 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight".
Additional Information
Sugar Hill Gang member Big Bank Hank dies
Sugar Hill Gang Perform on Conan
(Page researched and written by Gerard Gray.)
