(AllHipHop News) Legendary Hip-Hop group The sugar Hill Gang, R&B veterans The Moments and the executors of the Estate of Sylvia Robinson have filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, claiming the major label owes unpaid royalties.
The lawsuit, which was filed in The Supreme Court of the State of New York, claims that Universal has been witholding royalties from the legendary label, as well as the group members of Sugar Hill Gang and The Moments.
The lawsuit states that Universal has ignored agreements with the Sugar Hill label, some which date back as far as 1969, when the company Sylvia Robinson was running was known as All Platinum Inc.
All Platinum was Sylvia Robinson’s label and counted artists The Moments, The Whatnauts and Robinson herself, as featured talent on the label.
Sylvia Robinson and her husband Joe launched Sugar Hill Records in 1979, and introduced the world to the likes of The Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, The Treacherous Three and many others.
The Sugar Hill Gang has sold over 10 million copies of their 1979 hit single, “Rapper’s Delight,” alone, while The Moments have been sampled by a who’s who in Hip-Hop, including Wiz Khalifa, De La Soul, Game and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.
The group has been fighting to recover royalties from the sales of that single alone, since at least 2008, when they sued Sugar Hill Records, claiming Joseph Robinson lied on contracts to take control of their name.
The Sugar Hill Gang is now working on their first album in over ten years, marking their first release since 1999’s album Jump On It!
Check out the lawsuit below:
