The Best of Sugarhill Gang [Rhino]

Performer: The Sugarhill Gang
Artist: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: The Sugarhill Gang: Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien, Joey Robinson Jr., Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, Henry "Big Hank" Jackson (vocals). Additional personnel: The Furious Five, Kory-O (vocals). Producers include: Sylvia Inc., Joey Robinson Jr., Larry Johnson, Michael Johnson, Jigsaw Prod. Inc. Compilation producers: David McLees, Shannita Williams-Alleyne. Includes liner notes by Shannita Williams-Alleyne. Personnel: Pete Wingfield (keyboards, background vocals). Audio Remasterers: Chris Clarke; Dan Hersch. Liner Note Author: Shannita Williams-Alleyne. The Sugarhill Gang, the group that was credited for bringing hip-hop out of the Bronx (or, um, New Jersey, as it were) to the rest of the world, are best known for the hit "Rapper's Delight," though they were also responsible for songs like "8th Wonder," "Apache," and "Showdown," all of which are included on The Best of the Sugarhill Gang, released by Sequel. The track listing doesn't differ much from many of the other best-ofs out there, though there are a couple of things -- "Rapper's Reprise" and a remix of "Rapper's Delight" -- that separate (which is different than distinguish) this particular collection from the rest, making it a decent but not excellent choice. ~ Marisa Brown Sugarhill Gang's biggest hits are collected on this single-disc compilation. In addition to "Rapper's Delight" -- the first rap single to reach the pop Top Ten -- the group's seven other R&B hits are included on the disc, plus three other singles that never made the charts. All of the songs are presented in their original 12" versions. Not all of the material is first-rate -- in retrospective, the group's old-school groove tended to be a little simplistic, monotonous, and too polished, while their rhymes were frequently stilted and sometimes just outright silly -- but this music, especially "Rapper's Delight," is important historically. Most casual fans of old-school hip-hop will be content with purchasing "Rapper's Delight" on a various-artists collection, but for those wanting to dig deeper into the trio's history, The Best of Sugarhill Gang is a definitive retrospective. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Contrary to popular belief, the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" was not the first rap song. For much of the world, however, it represented the first exposure to the burgeoning style, consisting of stripped-down backbeats, sampled music clips, and half-spoken/half-sung rhymed vocals from performers known as MCs. And a fine introduction it was--over the eminently danceable bass line from Chic's "Good Times," rappers Wonder Mike, Master Gee, and Big Bank Hank laid down a rotating round of infectious, witty, quick-tongued raps. The hip-hop nation was born. Rhino's best-of compilation brings together 10 additional tracks by the Sugarhill Gang, including the hits "8th Wonder" and "Apache." Like the breakthrough single, these tunes borrowed instrumental lines from popular songs and featured ebullient, call-and-response, party-minded raps, introducing a host of catch phrases and motifs that would become common currency for the next several decades. Though the Sugarhill Gang was never as innovative as contemporaries Grandmaster Flash or Afrika Bambaataa, they nevertheless opened the floodgates to one of the most powerful and popular musical styles of the 20th century. The definitive RAPPER'S DELIGHT reads like a blueprint for the genre.

As one of the very first rap groups, and certainly the first to have a hit, the Sugarhill Gang are crucial to the history of hip-hop. The trio of Master G, Wonder Mike, and Big Bank Hank hailed from New Jersey, but it was through seminal NYC hip-hop label Sugarhill Records that they achieved fame, as their single "Rapper's Delight"--based around the groove of Chic's hit "Good Times"--became a massive hit in 1979 and paved the way for a tidal wave of rappers. The Gang didn't stay together long or record much, but what they left behind was more than enough.

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