Sugarhill Gang

Sugarhill Gang is an American hip-hop trio formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979, consisting of Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee. Assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records, the group takes its name from the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. They are historically significant as the act behind «Rapper's Delight», the single widely credited with bringing rap music to mainstream commercial radio and record buyers for the first time.

Released in 1979 and built over a sample of Chic's «Good Times», «Rapper's Delight» became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and is frequently cited among the most important songs in popular music history, including a high placement on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Its extended, party-rap format and playful, boastful verses established templates that would shape hip-hop for decades. The group followed with other notable tracks, including «Apache (Jump on It)» and «8th Wonder», cementing their catalogue as foundational old-school hip-hop.

While later overshadowed commercially by the genre's subsequent stars, Sugarhill Gang remains a touchstone act whose single-handed introduction of rap to a mass audience makes them one of the most historically important groups in the genre's origin story.