The Sugarhill Gang

Assembled in 1979 by producer Sylvia Robinson for her New Jersey label Sugar Hill Records, the trio of Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee recorded the first rap record to become a mainstream commercial hit. Though not Bronx park veterans themselves, they translated the borough's live MC routines into a studio single. "Rapper's Delight" carried the new music far beyond the neighborhoods that created it.