Big Bank Hank of the rap pioneers The Sugarhill Gang passed away early Tuesday at the age of 57 after battling cancer.
Born Henry Jackson, Hank grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Community College with a degree in oceanography. When he couldn’t find work in his chosen field, he began working in a pizza shop and managing a local New Jersey hip hop group, the Cold Crush Brothers. It was while working with the group that he met singer and record label executive Sylvia Robinson who had gotten familiar with the burgeoning rap/hip hop sound through her son and was looking to put together a new group that she could record.
Big Bank Hank, Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien became the Sugarhill Gang and Robinson and her husband Joe brought them into the studio to record Rappers Delight, a song that the trio had been working on. Using the instrumental arrangement from Chic’s Good Times (Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards are credited as co-writers after threatening legal action), the song hit a chord with the general public.
Rapper’s Delight reached number 36 in the U.S. and is acknowledged as the first mainstream rap hit, but its impact was even greater in other countries. The record went to number 1 in Canada and the Netherlands, 2 in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and 3 in Germany and the U.K.
The importance of Rapper’s Delight is reflected in the accolades it has received. In 2011, it was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry as a record that is “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant.” It is included on NPR’s list of the 100 most important musical works of the 20th century, Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
While the group never had another major hit (8th Wonder and Apache went top twenty R&B), they did continue to record through the mid-80’s, returning in 1999 to record the children’s rap album Jump On It!
Hank was no longer performing with the group while Wonder Mike and Master Gee carried on. They issued a statement to the Huffington Post along with business manager David Mallie:
So sad to hear of our brother’s passing. The three of us created musical history together with the release of ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ We will always remember traveling the world together and rocking the house. Rest in peace Big Bank.
more from vvnmusic.com
