'Mother of Hip-Hop' Sylvia Robinson Dies Aged 76
09:38 - Friday 30 September 2011 - In Categories US Entertainment, US Videos 
The hip-hop world is mourning one of its greatest icons, award-winning singer, songwriter and Sugar Hill Records founder Sylvia Robinson, who passed away in New Jersey yesterday after suffering congestive heart failure.
Robinson, born Sylvia Vanterpool, is credited with introducing hip-hop to the mainstream after founding the legendary Sugar Hill Records label with her deceased husband Joe Robinson, and releasing Rapper’s Delight in 1979.
The couple went on to sign groundbreaking collective Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to the label.
Sylvia previously had a successful career as an singer-songwriter, releasing sexually charged tunes including Pillow Talk, and the 1957 soul-pop classic Love Is Strange, which gained a second wave of popularity in a memorable scene in Dirty Dancing.
Musicians including Jay-Z, P-Diddy, Ice Cube, Master P, Gloria Estefan, Kid Rock, Kanye West and the late Amy Winehouse have all sampled music from Robinson’s catalog.
She leaves behind three sons – Joey, Leland, and Rhondo – who are all music and publishing executives.
