Culture
Celebrating Black History: The women who shaped dance music
From r'n'b to disco, funk and house
Sylvia Robinson
Though Sugar Hill Records was a funk and hip hop label, it also showcased disco’s impact on the genre. Sylvia Robinson founded the label with her husband Joe and surged into the mainstream with 'Rapper’s Delight' in 1979. The track featured disco-style production by Robinson with a fast tempo, co-written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. Before the label’s demise in 1986, Sylvia also launched the careers of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who released the slow and loose track 'The Message' on Sugar Hill Records in 1982.
