Sylvia Robinson (1936-2011) was an American singer, record producer, and music executive, topping the R&B charts in her early years, before founding the legendary hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s story is about an American singer, record producer, and music executive. She topped the R&B charts in her early years, before founding the legendary hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records. Her pioneering work in the genre earned her the title “the mother of hip hop.” Let’s talk about Sylvia Robinson.
Sylvia Vanderpool was born on March 6, 1936 in Harlem, New York to Herbert and Ida Vanderpool. Growing up, Sylvia loved to sing. While attending Washington Irving High School she was discovered by a Columbia Records staffer. At the age of 14, Sylvia dropped out of high school to record music under the name Little Sylvia.
While in the recording studio, Sylvia met session guitarist Mickey Baker and the two began working together as Mickey & Sylvia. In 1956, the duo recorded the Bo Diddley and Jody Williams single, “Love Is Strange,” which topped the R&B charts and reached number eleven on the Billboard pop charts. The song was later covered by Paul McCartney, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton. In 1961, Mickey provided vocals and Sylvia played guitar on Ike and Tina Turner’s hit single, “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.” But after that, Mickey and Sylvia struggled to replicate their past success and Mickey began to grow tired of the music business. The duo eventually split, and Mickey moved to France.
In 1964, Sylvia married real estate agent Joseph Robinson. The pair went on to have three children.
After getting married, Joseph left his career in real estate to become Sylvia’s manager. In the late 1960s, Sylvia and Joseph moved to New Jersey and opened their own record label, All Platinum Records. They even built an in-home recording studio named, Soul Sound Studios. Sylvia produced soul hits like the Moments' "Love on a Two-Way Street" and Shirley & Company’s “Shame, Shame, Shame.”
In 1972, Sylvia sent a demo of a song she had written called “Pillow Talk” to soul singer Al Green. When Green passed on the song, Sylvia recorded the song herself and scored a surprise hit. The song went on to earn Sylvia a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1974 Grammy Awards. The success inspired Sylvia to revive her singing career and put out four more albums throughout the decade.
By the end of the 1970s, All Platinum Records was no longer producing hits and in need of money. Sylvia was also in need of inspiration. In 1979, while attending a birthday party at a New York City club, Sylvia observed people dancing to a man talking over a record- something she’d never hear before. Unbeknownst to her, she was witnessing the very earliest days of rap music. Sylvia later said in an interview, "All of a sudden, a voice said to me, 'If you put a concept like that on wax, you'll be out of all the trouble you're in,"
Using her son as a talent scout, Sylvia found three young, unknown rappers in Englewood and formed them into a group she named the Sugarhill Gang. The name was an homage to Sylvia’s new label, Sugar Hill, which was named after a section in New York's Harlem neighborhood.
Sylvia persuaded the group to record improvised rhymes over a 15-minute rhythm track adapted from Chic’s “Good Times.” The song was “Rapper’s Delight,” and it was the first hip hop recording to become a commercial hit with more than 8 million copies sold.
Sylvia and her husband Joe signed several more talented rappers to their new label, including the all-female trio the Sequence, with a member calling herself "Angie B," who later went on to R&B stardom under the name Angie Stone. Other artists on the Sugar Hill roster included Funky 4+1, Spoonie Gee and, most importantly, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
In 1982, Sylvia produced a work called "The Message" for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The track was a groundbreaking piece about ghetto life that became one of the most powerful social commentaries of its time, laying the groundwork for the gangsta rap of the late 1980s. According to Grandmaster Flash, without Sylvia’s insistence and pressure the song would not have been produced.
In fact, no member of the Furious Five was involved in the creation of the song. They just performed it.
Sugarhill Records continued to have success until the mid-1980s when its market share began to wane. Stiff competition, a disintegrating roster and cash-flow problems prompted Sylvia and Joe to search for corporate partners. But after a distribution deal with the large MCA label ended in a bitter lawsuit, Sylvia’s long run of making hits was over.
By that point Sylvia and Joe had also finalized a divorce, so Sylvia set out on her own, forming Bon Ami Records. The label was noted for signing the act The New Style, who later left and found success under the name Naughty by Nature.
Sylvia’s later career was marred by controversy. In 1999 she launched a lawsuit against Blaze magazine, contending that the publication had unfairly accused her of cheating Sugar Hill artists out of their proper royalties. She was also reportedly devastated by a fire that leveled the historic Sugar Hill studios in 2002.
Sylvia died on September 29, 2011, in Secaucus, New Jersey due to congestive heart failure. She was 76 years old.
Sylvia is remembered today for her pioneering career as a label executive and record producer, earning the deep respect of those in the industry and beyond as the visionary who put rap music on the map
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