The Sugarhill Gang
Celebrated ‘Rappers Delight’ hit aficionados The Sugarhill Gang will be making an appearance in the Orchard for a legendary set of disco-funk and hip-hop vibes. The sensational trio, originating from Englewood New Jersey, were named after the culture-rich Sugar Hill neighbourhood in Harlem by producer Sylvia Robinson in the 1970s, owner of Sugar Hill label.
Robinson, on the lookout for a new and interesting sound, discovered 22 year old nightclub bouncer Henry Lee Jackson AKA Big Bank Hank, rapping Cold Crush Brothers’ rhymes outside the pizza parlour he worked at, rapping DJ Master Gee (Guy O’Brien) was soon after auditioned in Robinson’s car. Adding 6’5” rapper Wonder Mike into the mix, Robinson was unable to pick one out of the three, so decided to create a group and the Sugarhill Gang were born.
They were assembled in 1979 to record a revolutionary new hip-hop single, reinventing the 70s music scene after disco had reached its peak. The Sugarhill Gang was the group that brought hip-hop to mainstream America, awakening the hip-hop scene with their first explosive single ‘Rapper’s Delight’. It was the first rap single ever to become a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold 8 million copies, taking their fresh and funky sound global.
The legends took the music world by storm, recording hit hip-hop records including ‘8th Wonder’, making it to the number 15 spot on the R&B charts, and crowd-starting ‘Apache’.
After taking a short break, The Sugarhill Gang returned to fame in 1999 and recorded ‘Jump on it’ a children’s hip-hop album.
The first rap group to reach international fame, they brought rap and hip-hop culture to the masses and helped launch a genre that has continued to grow and influence. Now the Sugarhill Gang are making a long awaited comeback with the addition of Melle Mel and a 30 date European tour, including the famed Funk & Soul Weekender and Boomtown festivals, with our little old Nozstock being one of their stop-offs in the middle.
Come join us my friends! A chance to revisit the roots of rap, get ready to ‘boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat’ with the hip-hop troupe themselves, here down on t’farm. The Gang promise to haul you through hit after hip-hop hit, get your booty moving and grooving down in the Orchard “Hip-hop, hippie to the hippie, to the hip-hip-hop and you don’t stop”
