Rap Pioneer's Sound Success Story
Sugar Hill Records, which put out 1979's Rapper's Delight by the
Sugarhill Gang - debatably the first rap record - have released a set of records
commemorating their history as the pioneers of hip-hop.
The label, founded in 1979 by Sylvia Robinson and her husband Joe, brought
together Master G, Wonder Mic and Big Bank Hank as the Sugarhill Gang. Their
first release, Rapper's Delight, sold several million copies worldwide and
established rap as the genre it is today.
Sugar Hill eventually lost out to other labels, such as Def Jam,
and its fortunes faded after 1983.
"Hip-hop culture had existed for a number of years in the States, going back to
the early 70s, in terms of graffiti, break-dancing, and people rapping over
other records," Will Niccoll, the boss of the label's UK subsidy, told BBC World
Service's The Music Biz programme.
"But come 1979 and early 1980, the scene got to a level where people started to
take it on a commercial level."
'Novelty' record
Developing out of the South Bronx, rap music had been established for a number
of years previous to 1979. Elements of rap music can be heard in the work of US
group the Last Poets as far back as 1971.
It was Sylvia Robinson, who had previously run Platinum Records - a successful
disco label - who saw the commercial potential in the sound, which was usually
performed at parties.
When that record first came out, the guys who were driving the
scene - the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, the Crash Crew, who
were the real leaders on the scene - were rather taken aback," Mr Niccoll said.
But at the time, the Sugarhill Gang themselves doubted there would be many rap
records and saw the record as a novelty.
The full version of Rapper's Delight was nearly 16 minutes long - but this did
not stop its success.
One radio station in St Louis had its phone lines jammed for 12 hours after the
first time it played it. Chuck D, later to become a member of Public Enemy, said
that "it wasn't how long the 15 minutes were, but how short the 15 minutes
were."
As a result of the Sugarhill Gang's success, the label went on to release
records by Positive Force, Spoonie Gee, and Mellie Mel and Grandmaster Flash.
"Through the whole story, one of the interesting things is that although it's a
really urban culture, the marketing and A&R genius of Sylvia Robinson and Joe
Robinson really shines through," Mr Niccoll said.
"They spotted things before they were going to happen."
Sugar Hill's decline
He gave the example of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's The Message -
which the group did not want to make.
"Sylvia kept going, 'you've got to do this record'," he said.
"She saw it for what it was - social commentary, taking rap in a
new direction.
"That record set the tone for all that was to follow - Run DMC, Public Enemy,
NWA - all the way through to Eminem, Jay-Z, that we've got today."
However, despite being "untouchable" between 1979 and 1983, Sugar Hill records
would eventually be left behind by rival rap labels such as Def Jam and Death
Row. In 1995, their entire catalogue was bought out by Rhino Records.
Mr Niccoll said the decline was because the label eventually "didn't really
understand the dynamics of hip-hop."
"Hip-hop is about DJs and a microphone - not just some guys rapping over a house
band," he added.
"They divorced the rappers from the DJs and when they made that separation they
dynamic of hip-hop was lost."
HIP-HOP'S EARLY PIONEERS
Jamaican DJ Kool Herc is credited with starting hip-hop turntable culture, built
on breakbeats and the volume of the sound system Fellow DJ Grandmaster Flash
used technology to advance DJ culture, inventing the cross-fader and creating
his own mixing desk Afrika Bambaataa broadened the scope with electronic and
rock influences.