Robbed Hit of the Week 9/10/12 - Grandmaster Flash's "The Message"...

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - "The Message"
from the album The Message (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #62

This week's Robbed Hit of the week is by the seminal rap group Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. DJ Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) and rappers Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Cowboy, Scorpio, and Raheim came together in the South Bronx in the late 70s, and after the success of pioneer rappers the Sugar Hill Gang, they signed to Sugar Hill Records, where they scored their first hit in 1980 with "Freedom". A year later they released the classic turntable mix record "Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel".

But it was 1982 that rap and hip-hop found its voice and power with "The Message", where the group ran away from the party life atmosphere of their earlier work and described the true urban life that was happening in the early 80s. It had elements from their record "Superrappin'" from 1979.

Although the single was huge on R&B radio, where it went to #4, and in England, where the track made it to #8, it stalled at #62 on the pop chart, probably since mainstream radio wasn't ready for such a downbeat message in this time between soft-rock heaven and new-wave angst. But its legacy has far surpassed any chart peaks, inspiring the whole genre of music to expand from being a club novelty into becoming an outlet of expression in the urban community, and that guaranteed its longevity.

(Click below to read the rest of the post)




Disputes between Grandmaster Flash and rapper Melle Mel caused them to split in 1983. There was a sequel of sorts to the record in 1982 called "The Message II (Survival)" that made the R&B top 20.

Since its release the record and its lyrics have been sampled and interpolated by a truckload of records, with the most recognizable recent ones being Puff Daddy's "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"..

...and Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self"...

That's it for tonight....check back tomorrow for another Song of the Day, candletime, and my French and Kraut Sweeps. Cheers!