Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The Message

Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel certainly broke the mold when they made ‘The Message’ and do note I AM SPEAKING OF THE ALBUM AS A WHOLE,not mearly the justly revered title number,the first known hip-hop reflection of urban decay.As far as the album goes ‘The Message’ is an eight song mix of classic early 80’s DJ/rap breaks courtesy of Flash himself (notably on the classic “Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel”),old school 80’s vocal funk and even two quality,smoochy ballads-one of whitch “Dreamin’” is a tribute to Stevie Wonder,a musical innovator whom the Furious Five evidently saw as a major influence.“You Are” is actually an extremely well sung and performed ballad but I’m sure only a few Christian rappers will appreciate the song’s highly religious lyrics.The albums first three songs “She’s Fresh”,“It’s Hot” the the excellent vocorder whipped “Scorpio” actually showcase pure 80’s electro funk with ACTUAL SINGING rather then mearly rap.So ‘The Message’ album rounds out to be an all inclusive good time for funk,hip-hop and perhapes even pop fans alike-not only did it come early enough in the game to avoid rap’s modern clishes of misogyny,homophobia and pure shock jockisms and focuses primarily on the artistry of the medium and when the do stand up to the lyrical challange of hip-hop Melle Mel and the gang don’t take any prisoners-they speak purely of the plight of the world and not it’s people.And that’s the quality that makes this album such an honored,and deservad classic.

01. She’s Fresh (4:57)
02. It’s Nasty (4:18)
03. Scorpio (4:55)
04. It’s A Shame (Mt. Airy Groove) (4:57)
05. Dreamin’ (5:46)
06. You Are (4:50)
07. The Message (7:11)
bonus track
08. The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel (7:10)