Today In Hip Hop History: The Sugar Hill Gang Released Their Self Titled Debut LP 43 Years Ago

This particular passage takes us on a journey all the way back to February 7, 1980, when The Sugarhill Gang, comprised of Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien, and the late Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson – all of whom hailing from Englewood, New Jersey – dropped their self-titled debut album, Sugarhill Gang, which is widely regarded as the very first full-length Hip Hop album to ever be released.

Distributed via Sugar Hill Records – founded by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson along with Milton Malden – and at 39:17 in length, the project featured six records, including “Rapper’s Delight.” Ranked No. 251 on Rolling Stone Magazine‘s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list, while not exactly the first track to feature rapping – Fatback Band‘s “King Tim III (Personality Jock),” released six months prior, is actually credited for such – “Rapper’s Delight” is however typically considered to be the first song that popularized Hip Hop, and was also the first to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.