The opening track to A Complete Introduction To Sugar Hill Records is the record that pushed hip-hop into the mainstream. ‘Rappers Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang is an undeniable classic. The 15 minute track was selling thousands of copies a day and getting radio airplay that hip-hop had never before received. Some radio stations even played the full length track despite both four and six minute edits being available, such was the demand for it.

As the labels first release in 1979, ‘Rappers Delight’ sparked a riot of releases throughout the labels six year life. Containing 46 tracks of defining early hip-hop, from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, West Street Mob, and Spoonie Gee, to Positive Force and The Sequence. Even the ridiculous, and brilliant, ‘Super Wolf Can Do It’ by the New York radio DJ James ‘Super’ Wolf Jr. makes an appearance.

Although released as an introduction the the Sugar Hill record label, the collection could just as easily be referred to as an introduction to the roots of hip-hop. The magnificent ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five influenced many of today’s biggest rappers and DJ’s, and The Sequence’s ‘Funk It Up’ was the first ever record by an all female MC crew.

Sadly, one of the labels biggest releases was also it’s undoing. After fighting lawsuits against Grandmaster Flash, the Funky Four Plus One, and Crash Crew the label were hit with multiple lawsuits over the use of David Bowie and Liquid Liquid samples in Melle Mel’s ‘ White Lines (Don’t Do It)’.

A Complete Introduction To Sugar Hill Records is a phenomenal compilation with a wealth of influential and groundbreaking tracks that changed music for ever.