Within the scope of hip-hop’s long, varied arc, few artists have been involved with as many pioneering moments as songwriter, beatmaker and record executive Sylvia Robinson. While she initially found R&B success in the ‘50s with Mickey & Sylvia, she later cofounded the hip-hop label, Sugar Hill Records, in 1979—and was a groundbreaking rap producer, too. Robinson helped popularise the block-party vibe with the bouncy groove of The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper's Delight” before steering the genre into grittier urban milieus with Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message”, leading many to give her the nickname “The Mother of Hip-hop”.