Since the Mechies weren't around prior to 2008, I think it's a good idea to go back and give out a Mechy Award for the best hip hop album of each year I missed. Let's start in the beginning with 1979. Honestly, I'm not sure if Sugarhill Gang released this album in 1979 or 1980 because the sources I looked at were all inconsistent with the release date, and they're only internet sources anyway, so they're unreliable. I tend to believe the actual release date was in 1980, but if I don't give Sugarhill Gang the award for 1979, then I can't give away an award for 1979 because I haven't heard any hip hop albums from 1979. It's a decent album, but the historical significance far exceeds the quality of the music. Of the six tracks, only three are hip hop songs, and quite frankly "Rapper's Reprise" featuring The Sequence is terrible. Everybody knows "Rapper's Delight", and "Sugarhill Groove" is as good as "Rapper's Delight" if not better. Of the tracks where they're singing, "Passion Play" is a pretty good disco track, and the other two are very average. Sugarhill Gang gets the Mechy for Best Hip Hop Album of 1979 by default, but this is still one of the most significant album releases in the history of hip hop.
