The Message

The Message is considered to be one of the best '80s songs. This song is performed by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. On July 1, 1982, Sugar Hill Records released it as a single. It was eventually included on the band's first studio album, also titled "Sugar Hill Records." The first well-known hip-hop song to offer social commentary was "The Message". The tension of inner-city poverty is described in the song's lyrics. In the closing stanza, it is explained how a ghetto-born child without a sense of perspective gets drawn into crime and imprisoned until he kills himself in his cell. A quick sketch in which the band members are detained without explanation concludes the song.

In response to the 1980 New York City transit strike, which is featured in the song's lyrics, Duke Bootee and Melle Mel initially wrote the song in 1980. From the early Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five track "Superrappin'" from 1979 on the Enjoy label, the line "A child is born with no state of mind, blind to the ways of mankind" was lifted.

Artist: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Released: July 1, 1982

Genre: Old-school hip hop, conscious hip hop, electro, progressive rap