In 1982, when American vocalist Melle Mel was asked to rap about the social deprivation and violence running rampant in inner-city neighbourhoods, he initially declined. At the time, hip-hop was focused on rhythm and rhyme – hip-hop for hip-hop’s sake. Melle Mel led the group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, known for their party anthems, and for “boasting how good we are and all that”, as he told one interviewer.
Eventually, though, he relented, and The Message became an instant classic. The song exposed the harsh realities of African American life, including police brutality, poor housing and systemic racism in education. While Ronald Reagan’s administration promoted the myth of the “welfare queen”, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five rapped about who was really being harmed by the government’s brutal reforms: “A child born with no state of mind / Blind to the ways of mankind.”
