Sylvia Robinson, Incoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Was a Hit Artist Before Becoming an Influential Hip-Hop Mogul

Sylvia Robinson (1935-2011) has deservedly been called “the mother of hip-hop” for her efforts in co-founding and running Sugar Hill Records. But even as impressive an honorific as that can’t begin to encapsulate a wide-ranging career that predated the dawn of rap and unfolded over a remarkable half-century in music. Like her fellow 2022 Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees, Grubman and Iovine, Robinson created a world in which musicmakers could come to the fore and thrive. Not only did she co-found one of the first hip-hop labels, Sugar Hill Records, and serve as its CEO, but she was one of the… Read Full Article