{"id":225905,"date":"2026-04-09T15:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/?p=225905"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:58:28","slug":"rest-in-power-in-memoriam-gwendolyn-blondy-chisolm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/rest-in-power-in-memoriam-gwendolyn-blondy-chisolm\/","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. Blondy from The Sequence (Sugar Hill Records)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hip-hop community has grown quiet this week. The news that Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm<\/strong> passed away on April 6, 2026, at the age of 67, has deeply affected all of us who cherish the very roots of this culture. Her passing comes just over a year after the tragic loss of her group mate, Angie Stone<\/strong> (known then as Angie B<\/strong>), leaving Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook<\/strong> as the lone guardian of the fire for the first female hip-hop trio to ever sign a record deal.<\/p>\n

Blondy wasn’t just a “background singer” or part of the choreography; she was an essential component of a machine that, in 1979, proved rap wasn’t just a male affair reserved for New York\u2019s five boroughs. The Sequence came from Columbia, South Carolina, bringing with them a Southern flavor that was entirely foreign to the concrete of the Bronx at the time.<\/p>\n

Blondy\u2019s story begins in the Saxon Homes<\/strong> projects. She, Angela Brown, and Cheryl Cook were childhood friends who later became cheerleaders at C.A. Johnson High School. It was that experience on the sidelines\u2014the rhythmic chanting and the energy\u2014that became the foundation for their specific sound. While rappers in New York were performing long “rhyme marathons” without clear choruses, the girls from South Carolina added harmony, gospel singing, and pop structure into the equation.<\/p>\n

The turning point occurred on October 20, 1979, at the Township Auditorium. Blondy was working at Super Saver Foods<\/strong> at the time, and her manager had promised her tickets to a Sugarhill Gang performance for her 20th birthday. When the tickets failed to materialize, the girls managed to talk their way backstage, where they met Sylvia Robinson, the visionary behind Sugar Hill Records. That\u2019s where the historical moment happened: during an impromptu audition, after performing a couple of routines, Cheryl remembered the “Funk You Up<\/strong>” chant. Sylvia immediately stopped everything, called bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald, and ordered them to “put more thump” into the rhythm. And just like that, a hit was born.<\/p>\n

Stories about Sugar Hill Records often only mention Sylvia<\/strong> and Joe Robinson<\/strong>, but the structure of the house was more complex. Milton Malden was a key figure<\/strong> in the shadows, a co-founder and investor who, along with the Robinsons, laid the foundations of the label on the ashes of All Platinum Records. Malden was a man who understood how to capitalize on the street sound.<\/p>\n

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Milton Malden, Sylvia Robinson and The Sequence\u00a0@ the Sugar Hill Office in NJ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His contribution was both logistical and strategic; he was part of the triumvirate that ensured The Sequence had access to top-tier studio equipment and in-house musicians. During that time, Milton Malden<\/strong> played a significant role in keeping operations running through the label’s golden, yet turbulent, period. Sugar Hill Records<\/strong><\/a> was a “tight ship,” and Blondy remained loyal to that family for years, even working in the label\u2019s administration after the group stopped recording.<\/p>\n

The single “Funk You Up<\/strong>” was released in December 1979 and became the label’s second official release, right after “Rapper\u2019s Delight<\/strong>“. It was the first female rap hit in history, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot Soul chart . Blondy brought a song that wasn’t just rap\u2014it was a fusion of soul, funk, and what we would later call the R&B-hip hop crossover.”Funk You Up” was also released in Yugoslavia in 1981 as one of the first Hip-Hop twelve inches on a local label called Diskos, you can find it HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n