Seminal late 1970s/early 1980s rap label owned and operated by Sylvia Robinson and her husband Joe with financial back-up from Morris Levy and his Roulette Records that launched the careers of early hip-hop legends Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Treacherous Three and The Sugarhill Gang to worldwide exposure.
However, the label was also renowned for shady business practices (mainly the convoluted way it, as Sugar Hill's predecessor company All Platinum Records, acquired Chess Records in the late Seventies and routinely short-changing its roster on royalties). After some legal wrangling that occurred after the label shut down in 1985, the Chess masters were sold to MCA Records.
In June 1995 Rhino Records Inc. and Castle Communications PLC purchased the "Sugar Hill Records" catalog from Joseph and Sylvia Robinson. Rhino controls the Sugar Hill catalog throughout North America, South America, Japan and the Caribbean islands, and Castle Communications the rest of the world. This catalog included the masters of such labels as Sugar Hill Records, All Platinum, Stang Records, Vibration, Jersey Connection, Willow (2), Turbo Records, Victory Records (2), Sweet Mountain Records, Platinum and Astroscope. Joseph and Sylvia remained proprietors of the related publishing rights, as well as the current album inventory. Through a series of acquisitions, the "rest of the world" catalog is now owned by BMG Rights Management.
Label Code: LC 6916.
