Sugar Hill Records (hip hop label) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sugar Hill Records |
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| Parent company | Rhino Entertainment/Warner Music (Americas and Japan) BMG Rights Management (rest of world) |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Joe Robinson Sylvia Robinson Milton Malden |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Distributor(s) | Warner Music Group (via Rhino in Americas and Japan, and Alternative Distribution Alliance in the rest of the world) |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Englewood, New Jersey |
Sugar Hill Records was an American record label that focused on hip hop music. It was started in 1979 by a husband and wife team, Joe and Sylvia Robinson. They worked with Milton Malden and got money from Tony Riviera and Morris Levy. This label became very important in the early days of hip hop.
History of Sugar Hill Records
Joe Robinson had a lot of experience in the music business. He had started several other record labels before Sugar Hill. His wife, Sylvia Robinson, was also a famous singer. She had a hit song called "Love Is Strange" in the 1950s.
How it Started
The very first record released by Sugar Hill was "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. This song was by The Sugarhill Gang. It was a huge hit and became the first hip hop song to reach the top 40 on the music charts.
After this big success, many other famous hip hop groups joined the label. These included The Sequence, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One, and Treacherous Three. Sugar Hill Records had its own producer, Clifton "Jiggs" Chase. Steve Jerome was their main recording engineer.
Big Successes
Sugar Hill Records had many successful years. Sylvia Robinson helped produce several music videos for their artists. A young director named Spike Lee even made one of his first music videos for the song "White Lines". This song was performed by Melle Mel and the Furious Five.
The End of the Label
The label eventually faced some legal problems with a company called MCA Records. Because of these issues, Sugar Hill Records closed down in 1986.
Years later, in 1995, another company called Rhino Records bought many of Sugar Hill's old recordings. These included both released and unreleased songs. They got the rights for North and South America, and Japan. Another company, Castle Communications, got the rights for other parts of the world.
In 2002, the main recording studio for Sugar Hill Records was destroyed by a fire. This studio was in Englewood, New Jersey. Many famous songs, like "Rapper's Delight" and "The Message", were recorded there. Sadly, many original recordings were lost in the fire.
See also
In Spanish: Sugar Hill Records (sello rap) para niños
- List of record labels
- Sugar Hill Records (hip hop label) discography
