"That's the Joint" was interpolated from A Taste of Honey's "Rescue Me". Music critic Robert Christgau of The Village Voice named it the best song of the 1980s. In his 1981 review of the single, Christgau gave it an A rating and wrote of its musical significance, "The instrumental track, carried by Sugarhill bassist Doug Wimbish, is so compelling that for a while I listened to it alone on its B-side version. And the rapping is the peak of the form, not verbally—the debut has funnier words—but rhythmically. Quick tradeoffs and clamorous breaks vary the steady-flow rhyming of the individual MCs, and when it comes to Sha-Rock, Miss Plus One herself, who needs variation?"
They were the first hip hop group to appear on a national television show; on February 14 (Valentine's Day) 1981 they performed in Saturday Night Live hosted by Blondie's Deborah Harry.
The group was subsequently asked by Harry to open up for Blondie on tour, but were forbidden to do so by Sugarhill Records' CEO, Sylvia Robinson.
In 2008, its song "That's The Joint" was ranked number 41 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Members
The Voice of K.K. aka K.K. Rockwell (Kevin Smith)
Keith Keith (Keith Caesar)
Sha Rock (Sharon Green)
Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams)
Lil' Rodney C! (Rodney Stone)
Jazzy Jeff (Jeff Miree)
D.J. Breakout (Keith Williams)
D.J. Baron (Baron Chappell)
Videos
That's The Joint
