The Message (feat. Melle Mel ...by Various Artists

6 “Degrees: Melle Mel was a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is considered one of the most influential rap records and is one of the first that offered social commentary on inner-city poverty. The song was written by producer Duke Bootee, but Melle Mel rapping made it a hit." Read the interview from Melle Mel here: www.npr.org

Born today in 1958, Grandmaster Flash (born Joseph Saddler), is considered one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJ'ing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop act to be honored. Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary.

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee: www.connectsavannah.com -- “It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.” Here are the lyrics; www.songfacts.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee: www.connectsavannah.com -- “It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.” Here are the lyrics; www.songfacts.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. It’s Hip-Hop's 50th Birthday in 2023 and KEXP is celebrating! All year long we'll be highlighting a year in Hip-Hop history. Each week KEXP focuses on a different year with new features. Not enough Hip-Hop for you? Checkout 50 Years of Hip-Hop, KEXP's newest podcast hosted by Larry Mizell, Jr. Expect personal reflections, iconic tracks and albums, and conversations around the genesis of the culture. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts and find more info at KEXP.ORG

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. It’s Hip-Hop's 50th Birthday in 2023 and KEXP is celebrating! All year long we'll be highlighting a year in Hip-Hop history. Each week KEXP focuses on a different year with new features. Not enough Hip-Hop for you? Checkout 50 Years of Hip-Hop, KEXP's newest podcast hosted by Larry Mizell, Jr. Expect personal reflections, iconic tracks and albums, and conversations around the genesis of the culture. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts and find more info at KEXP.ORG

1982 studio debut -- kexp.org "Sylvia Robinson [head of Sugar Hill, Grandmaster Flash's label] had had this concept of The Message: she wanted a serious song to show what was happening in society, but hadn't been able to get it together. So we told her what we had and added: "It sounds like a hit." Then all we had to do was come up with some music and write the verses" -- read more of the interview with Jiggs Chase and Ed Fletcher, producer and MC of the hip-hop classic: tinyurl.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Classic video! youtu.be Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: bit.ly

Request for David! Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records on this day in 1981, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Happy birthday to Grandmaster Flash! Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Duke Bootee, (born Edward Fletcher) the pioneering musician who co-wrote and appeared on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s classic “The Message” died, January 13th, at the age of 69. Fletcher wrote “The Message” in 1980, detailing the struggles of inner-city life amid a New York transit strike that year. Although “The Message” is credited to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the song — then titled “The Jungle” — was the brainchild of Fletcher, who submitted a demo of the track while a session musician for the Sugar Hill Gang.

Out to John in Madison! Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Released by Sugar Hill Records in 1982, this song was recognized and archived by The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress for being culturally significant, one of the first prominent hip hop songs to provide social commentary. It was first written by Duke Bootee and Melle Mel in 1980. Check out this great article and interview with the late Duke Bootee from Connect Savannah: www.connectsavannah.com

Ed Fletcher, performing as Duke Bootee, has passed away at the age of 69. He was an early producer and rapper who collaborated with Melle Mel and many others on some of the most important early rap tracks -- including this one, the first to be added to the National Registry, and #1 on the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time Fletcher would speak about “The Message” during a 2013 interview with The Guardian. “The neighborhood I was living in, the things I saw — it was like a jungle sometimes in Elizabeth, New Jersey,” he said. “Even though we lived in a nice area, I’d sit in the living room and watch things happening across the street in the park. The lyrics were sort of cinematic: I tried to hold a message up to society.” He added, “Rappers then were in their late teens and made feel-good, upbeat songs to party to, so this was completely new.” -- tinyurl.com

“The Message" is widely admired as being an inspiration, said to have taken early rap rap music from the house parties of its origin to the social platforms later developed by groups like Public Enemy and KRS-One. Melle Mel said in an interview with NPR: "Our group, like Flash and the Furious Five, we didn't actually want to do 'The Message' because we was used to doing party raps and boasting how good we are and all that.” Listen to the interview on NPR here: www.npr.org Check out the music video for “The Message” here: youtu.be

"It’s well known that ‘The Message,’ with its slow, spare, ominous groove and downbeat slice-of-life lyric, opened new directions for hip-hop. Released in July 1982, it pointed away from the good-times boasting and partying of the genre’s early milestones, toward harsher territories that would be explored by outfits like Public Enemy, BDP and NWA as the 1980s unfolded." Learn about the making of "The Message.": damienlove.com

Writer Cherese Jackson explaining this early rap classic: "The reality in 1982 was that millions from the projects in Brooklyn, New York to the ghettos of Watts in California were given very little in the way of choices or opportunities in how they could live. Contrary to what the White House was saying or the news media were reporting, black and brown people were not just these unsavory characters addicted to drugs, crime, and unwedded pregnancies. They were children born into abstract devastation and were desperately looking for a way of escape..." www.rhino.com

The National Recording Registry at the US Library Of Congress archives recordings that are considered to be culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and this one was added in 2002 because “of its focus on urban social issues”.

#480. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. They were the first hip hop act to be inducted.

In 2012, this song was named the greatest hip-hop song of all time by Rolling Stone. What do you think?:www.ft.com

Produced by Sylvia Robinson co-founder of Sugar Hill Records, born today in 1935, died in 2011.

Check out our Taste of Iceland: Literature Oct 14: blog.kexp.org and Reykjavik Calling event Oct 15: blog.kexp.org

Scandal! Was Grandmaster Flash "Hip Hop's Milli Vanilli"? Read all about it here: hiphopdx.com

Opened for the Clash on May 28, 1981. Learn more about the Clash's epic run of shows at Bond International Casino at blog.kexp.org