Bravo’s reality TV show First Family of Hip Hop follows the lives of the Robinsons. Joe and Sylvia Robinson were the husband and wife team behind Sugar Hill Records in Englewood, New Jersey. They produced The Sugarhill Gang and their hit “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979. More than 35 years later, Joe and Sylvia’s son Leland Robinson, Sr., is trying to revive Sugar Hill with new artists. Leland is working with his sons Leland Jr. and Darnell. Part of the dramatic arc of the show is Darnell’s relationship with his girlfriend Eseni Ellington.
Raised in the Bronx, Ellington started competing in beauty pageants at the age of 18. She didn’t win the title of Miss New York USA (2012 or 2014) but the experience helped her launch her modeling and acting career. She starred in Lifetime’s The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns and models for yoga and pole dancing brand Yoga Tart, among others. (Note: She did not become a nun.) First Family of Hip Hop airs Sundays at 9pm on Bravo.
