Sugar Hill Gang
Artist Links
Grammy Hall of Fame Award – “Rapper’s Delight”
“Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold more than 14M copies
4x – Top 10 Hits
5x – Top 40 Hits
1.4M – monthly listeners on Spotify
Juno Award – International Single of The Year
Notable Venues
Artist Bio
The Sugar Hill Gang, known as the first nationally popular African American hip-hop group, comprised three members: Mike Wright (Wonder Mike), Henry Jackson (Big Bank Hank), and Guy O’ Brien (Master Gee), all from Englewood, New Jersey. The group is best known for its 1979 hit single, “Rapper’s Delight,” which was also the first hip hop single to rank in the top 40 hits and to become part of a multi-platinum selling album. Rapper’s Delight is also credited with popularizing hip hop as a new musical genre.
Wright, Jackson and O’Brien were discovered and signed to Sugar Hill Records by producer Sylvia Robinson and her husband, record tycoon, Joe Robinson. Sylvia Robinson had become aware of the large block parties that sprang up in the New York area, which featured a new style of music defined as underground hip hop. Robinson met Wright, Jackson, and O’Brien at one of these parties where the three were performers and signed them to the Sugar Hill label. They were given the stage name, Sugar Hill Gang and soon afterward they recorded “Rapper’s Delight.”
