Sugarhill's 1st Annual Rapper's Convention at 369th Regiment Armory

Flier for Sugar Hill’s 1st Annual Rappers Convention, NY, May 9, 1981

This handbill advertises Sugar Hill Records’ first annual rappers convention, featuring Sugar Hill recording artists, who were the nation's most popular acts in Hip-Hop at the time.  At the top of the bill is the Sugarhill Gang, the first successful recording artists in Rap music. The Sugarhill Gang was put together by Sugar Hill label owner, Sylvia Robinson, who was inspired by her son’s enthusiasm for Hip-Hop, which rapidly was growing increasingly popular in clubs and at street parties in the late 1970s. This handbill also includes the names of several invited guests. Hip-Hop handbills and posters sometimes listed invited guests. These acts were not guaranteed to perform but by listing them on the handbill, the possibility that they might appear gave the event added appeal. New York’s 369th Regiment Armory, the venue for this first rapper’s convention, was a military facility that could be rented for public events.

In 1979 the Sugarhill Gang released the first hit Rap single, “Rapper's Delight,” which went platinum within a month and reached No. 4 on the R&B charts.  Following the group’s commercial success with the label, the two top performing live acts in New York City at the time, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Funky Four +1 More, also signed with Sugar Hill.  Also at the convention was The Sequence, a crew of female MCs. They were unusual not only because they were women, but also because they were from South Carolina and most performers were from New York. Blondie was their lead MC. Sha Rock of the Funky Four +1 More and The Sequence are among the pioneering women performers of Hip-Hop, a genre dominated by men. Among other performers were the Crash Crew, the late Spoonie Gee, and the Treacherous 3, who also recorded with Sugar Hill. Another notable act at the event was the R&B band T.S. Monk. The leader of the group was Thelonious Monk, Jr., son of the legendary Jazz performer of the same name. Trained as a Jazz drummer, Monk recorded a few hits with his self-named R&B band. He has since returned to Jazz and heads up a sextet.