Sylvia Robinson: Pioneering Record Producer & Record Executive (Sugar Hill Records)

Sylvia Robinson (1936-2011) was a singer, composer, and record producer who brought rap music out of the New York City clubs and popularized what was a new genre of music by forming the Sugarhill Gang.

“Rapper’s Delight” was the group’s first recording, and the record sold more than eight million copies, reached No. 4 on the R&B charts and No. 36 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1979. The song forever changed music by introducing rap and hip hop to the broader world.

Sylvia Robinson is also, allegedly, the person on whom Cookie Lyon on the hit television show, Empire, is generally based.

These are the reasons why record producer and filmmaker Bayer Mack has created a three-minute tribute to Sylvia Robinson’s life. Mack felt she was among the women worthy of much greater recognition during Women’s History Month.

Read the full article at huffingtonpost.com.

And check out a quick synopsis of her in the video below.