This could actually be the first case of swagger jacking in hip-hop history.  Robert Paradiso recently directed a documentary on how The Sugar Hill Gang lost a large amount of money to impostor versions of the group.  As it turns out, Master Gee and Wonder Mike, known for the very old-school hits “Rapper’s Delight” and “Apache,” did not own the rights to group’s name.  Their record label, Sugar Hill Records, trademarked the name and sent random guys posing as Tthe Sugar Hill Gang on the road.  Paradiso explains, “They’re really big in Europe and as I discovered there’s reasons for that. There’s laws now currently in the States where you can’t present a band without original members and if you do, you have to let the audience know. That’s a rather recent thing here.  It was more traditional for that to happen in Europe.“  According to the filmmaker, the original group now owns the rights to “Rapper’s Delight” and “Apache,” although they can only collect the profits made within the last 7 years and beyond due to a statute of limitations.  Check out the trailer for the movie below; it’s kind of funny.
 
 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 9:45 pm and is filed under movies, Random, Video. Tags: Business, identity theft, Swagger Jack, Swagger Jacking, The Sugar Hill Gang