(September 29, 2011) Sylvia Robinson, known as the "Mother of Hip Hop" for her work on the pioneering Sugar Hill Records label, has died at age 75.
Robinson had a long a varied career, first hitting the national charts as one half of the recording duo Mickey and Sylvia, which scored a major hit with "Love is Strange." It was over a decade later, in 1973, that she had her own #1 hit, with the sexy soul song, "Pillow Talk."
She later co-founded and was the head of Sugar Hill Records, which scored the first rap smash hit, "Rapper's Delight," by the Sugar Hill Gang. Sugar Hill remained a force in rap music for years to come.
(September 29, 2011) Sylvia Robinson, known as the "Mother of Hip Hop" for her work on the pioneering Sugar Hill Records label, has died at age 75.
Robinson had a long a varied career, first hitting the national charts as one half of the recording duo Mickey and Sylvia, which scored a major hit with "Love is Strange." It was over a decade later, in 1973, that she had her own #1 hit, with the sexy soul song, "Pillow Talk."
She later co-founded and was the head of Sugar Hill Records, which scored the first rap smash hit, "Rapper's Delight," by the Sugar Hill Gang. Sugar Hill remained a force in rap music for years to come.
Robinson was in all ways a music pioneer and one of the first women to truly break the glass ceiling that existing for success as a producer and executive in the music industry. Her place in music history is secure.
.