This post showcases the Hip Hop record "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and provides selected comments from the viewer comment thread of the video showcased below.
The Addendum to this post provides additional selected comments from a sound file of that same record.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the producers of this video and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Grandmaster Flash: The Message
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ao9vCz_sg&ab_channel=SuperFlyTV
Super Fly TV, Oct 31, 2013
"The Message" is a song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It was released as a single by Sugar Hill Records on July 1, 1982 and was later featured on the group's first studio album, The Message. "The Message" was the first prominent hip hop song to provide a lyrical social commentary. It took rap music from the house parties to the social platforms later developed by groups like Public Enemy, N.W.A., and Rage Against The Machine.
Here's an excerpt from the summary of another YouTube video of this song:
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five - The Message (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrsPhMGN1f4&ab_channel=reelblackreelblack, June 3, 2020
"Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, The Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole and Coconuts frontman Kid Creole), Keith Cowboy, Mr. Ness/Scorpio and Rahiem. The group's use of turntablism, break-beat DJing, and conscious lyricism were significant in the early development of hip hop music.
In the late 1970s, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five built their reputation and achieved local success by performing at parties and live shows. By 1980, the group had signed with Sugar Hill Records. Under Sugar Hill Records, the group rose to prominence in the early 1980s with their first hit "Freedom". It was not until the release of the song "The Message" in 1982 and the album of the same name that they achieved mainstream success. The song provided a political and social commentary and went on to become a driving force behind conscious hip-hop....
-snip-
Click https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tjgobkoywsy5saj4ibgkfixr3ba?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics&u=0# for the full lyrics to this record.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY
These comments are a sample of those found in that YouTube video's viewer comment thread.
[This video is no longer available. I replaced it by the embedded video given above on September 24, 2020.].
As a community folklorist, I believe that some comments on YouTube videos viewer comment threads are of folkloric (historical, cultural) value in and of themselves in that they document commenters' perspectives, values, and viewpoints.
I'm aware that other people quoting comments from that discussion thread would likely select some other examples as representative of those found in that thread. I didn't select any comment that included anything other than mild profanity. I also didn't select any examples that contained what I considered to be racist and/or homophobic language. In selecting these comments, I was particularly interested in reminiscences from the 1980s.
These comments are presented in chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first (with the exceptions of replies). These comments aren't necessarily in consecutive order, in part because I grouped comments together which were posted in the same year and have the same or similar theme/s.
I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only. I've also included my explanations of certain words or phrases for some of these comments and I posted a comment in response to a question about a slang word.
From (16,694) comments as of 8:00 AM, Feb. 22, 2015
2012
1. Casparus Kruger
"This was the first band I heard doing serious rap. I was about 30 years old at the time. What I found odd was that just a few years later whenever I mentioned 'Grandmaster Flash' to a younger person who talked about rap music--they never knew who they were. Even in that short time, this market suffered from severe saturation and pretty well since then the fame of any particular artist was even shorter-lived than pop bands in previous years."
**
2. Eric Romero
"There are two types of rap nowadays: mainstream and underground. What's the difference? Mainstream rappers are at the mercy of the corporate boardroom members, and you have little to no say in your creativity: you do what they say, or they drop you. Underground rap: you have no one to answer to, and you can be creative with your music. Grandmaster Flash represents a time where rappers could be free in how they speak, things they say, etc...that's the core of hip-hop."
**
3. ceops68
"Imo this was the ONE making hiphop a world culture! Oldschool pimps still imba Love, peace and unity from Denmark"
**
4. Jari Schroderus
"I'm born in 1973, I remember typing "rap music" on a typewriter. Did not do me any good ;-) But this track is still excellent! I remember hearing Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" for the first time on radio around '79-'80 for the first time. The track that (probably) started it all. The only remarkable thing about this is that our family was living in Sweden then (we are from Finland), and I heard it on the radio. Back then the swedes seemed to have a grasp of what's hot for years"
**
5. Julio Cortes
"the ending part is sad"
**
6. VintageSoundsNumber1
reply to Julio Cortes
"It is sad...and it was the sad reality of being a Black guy in inner cities - New-York or elsewhere; thug or not thug- just because of hangin' around in the street doing nothing made you suspect for a white cop...even Black guys in the police were "racist" against their brothers, in a ceratin way...And all of that had changed but a little nowadays...
**
7. differentandalike
"Wow, I remember listening to this everyday when the song was on the radio. It was the biggest rap song of that year. Lot of good memories."
**
8. yazzufrendo
"...back to the roots....that was the time of 'beat street' and street dance...the where you was going in the pharmacy to get white gloves...going to the supermarkt and asking for paperboxes so we could practice at home an the carpet....nice memories"
-snip-
This comment refers to breakdancing.
**
9. carbon273
"without my dad i wouldve never gotten my ear out of mainstream radio shitty "hip hop", he was the one who introduced me to 80's and 90's rap (im 16 btw) and told me his teenage stories about how rap music was fun where everyone in the hood held up a big ass radio blastin them tunes, grafitti was all over even on trains, freestyle battles (dancing) in every corner and how hype to whole era of hip hop was...i wish i was born earlier :("
**
10. EnglishLeprachaun981
in reply to carbon273
"'even on trains'? Graffiti on trains is really common? I'd know- I'm a leprachaun."
**
11. carbon273
in reply to EnglishLeprachaun981
"no not really i live in brooklyn and there isnt any grafitti on trains as for ten to 20 yrs ago there was grafitti all over...i remember my dad saying that when you grafitti your name on a train you could witness your name go all around the city"
**
12. tswagg504
"Does the Bronx still look like this?"
**
13. fog dust
"nyc was a jungle back then now its ugh gentrified up"
**
14. Rudhra Bala
"back when mtv actually showed music..."
**
15. Christina Funderbur
"Ah yes. The origin of skinny jeans in Hip Hop! Finally, a link! lol"
-snip-
Read other comments below about the clothes worn by the men in the video.
****
2013
16. Ezekiel Hobbs
"Who hits the second verse?"
**
17. Afroqbno Acere
in reply to Ezekiel Hobbs
"lol That's a good question bcuz in the video Rahiem is lip-syncing Duke Bootee's verses. Duke Bootee Fletcher is the original author of the song; when the late Sylvia Robinson acquired it & presented it to the Furious Five they initially told her they wasn't interested in a song that was socially conscience bcuz their fan base were accustomed to hearing party anthems. I guess after some coercion on Sylvia's part Melle Mel decided to give in, but for the record this is not a Furious Five song."
**
18. annlucienq
"Sad how little life has changed for so many. This is one of the greatest raps ever."
**
19. The Bigfoot Canvas
"The first official song about the hood, noone from the hood took Rappers Delight seriously."
**
20. uptown POPPY
"i remember tagging on the 2 train with my lee suit and cazals ..a young child running wild damn what happened to hip hop ..what happend to new york????"
**
31. DJjakedrake
in reply to Jeroen Tel
"are you kidding me. nyc is way better now than the early eighties where entire blocks of building were burned down."
**
22. Mike Bennet
"People born after 1980 don't appreciate how much with the times this song was. They don't remember what sections of NYC, Philly, and Baltimore looked like back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Manhattan was full of garbage strewn lots and buildings with broken window. The subways smelled like piss and shit and were full of graphitti and riding them after rush hour was taking your life in your hands. People were desperate and times were bad. Much worse than this recession we are in now."
**
23. Anglynn74
"for those of us who remember inner city urban blight in the early 80s this video should bring back some memories. NYC has gotten much better since then."
**
24. D Ross1
"I remember glass everywhere , I forgot in the 70's plastic hadn,t yet replaced glass so most all containers where glass or aluminum , needless to say there was a lot more broken glass on side walks and parking lots then you see today"
-snip-
This commenter may have meant "in the 1980s" as that was when this rap and video was produced.
**
25. DJjakedrake
"are you kidding me. nyc is way better now than the early eighties where entire blocks of building were burned down."
**
26. daGod Emcee
"This video took place in my hood .grand master flash use to live across the street from me befor when they neva was stars they use to chill in my grand mom house to eat food ,the hood is clean now ,back then in the Bronx it was ruff ,but I miss this day man!!"
-snip-
"used to chill" = spend some time relaxing
**
27. Rob George
"off to get me lino and ghetto blaster see if i still got the moves ......get a doctor on stand by its been a while!"
-snip-
"ghetto blaster" = "boom box" = a large casette player/radio with a handle
****
2014
28. Brendon Cariah
"Duke Bootee should get all the credit for this song he wrote it, he also is the guy who did the second verse , I always thought his flow was so cool and laid back! "my brothers doing bad, stole my mothers tV says shes watching too much, its just not healthy…"
**
29. funkydopebeats
"yep , he's the second Rapper at 0:24 and 2:00
AND he made the whole Beat with Doug Wimbish !
The should rename it to : Duke Bootee & Grandmaster Melle Mel - The Message
Flash can't complain about it , he had nothing zero to do with this Record
He has his own Classic , Adventures of Wheels of Steel"
**
30. brendonkas
"Classic, Grand Master Flash did not lifet a needle to this song his name was used because he was a popular dj, nor did Melle Mel, the man responsible for this Infamous Classic, is Duke Bootee the guy who rapped the second verse!"
**
31. Jacob Lee
"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"
-snip-
This quote is attributed to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five.
**
32. STEPASAUR
"Funny thing is a lot of you bemoaning the state of commercial rap now compared to this song, this song was created 'to be' commercial, Flash wanted nothing to do with it because of that, even the lyrics weren't written by Raheim or Mel, apart from Mel's 'a child is born' verse the majority of the songs lyrics were written by Duke Bootee, a 'cash-in' but none-the-less a game changer"
**
33. Brian Minnesota
"this is when RAP was just starting to become more than just a MC and DJ in chi-town or new york house parties. these early pioneers of rap they didnt have record deals, they sold tape out the trunk of their car and at house parties..anyone who is anyone in the rap game owes alot to grandmaster, eric-b, rakim, sugarhill, L.L. cool J and a huge prop to Don Cornelius ( soul train!) 80's rap the best
-snip-
Chi-town = Chicago
**
34. 7xhunterx
"you forgot krs one,kool g rap,big daddy kane,african bambaataa,grandmaster caz,dj polo,grandstarr"
**
35. Keith Witcher
"Very good classic song. They gave a very good description of what happens in black neighborhoods without cursing. I like Melle Mel's lyrics when he said a child is born with no state of mind, blind to the ways of mankind. God is smiling on you but he's frowning too because only God knows what you'll go through. I like when one of the rappers said because it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny. You gotta have a con in this land of milk and honey. Props to Puff Daddy and Mase for sampling this on Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and props to Ice Cube for sampling it also on Check Yo Self remix. I like The Message album cover. Nice picture."
**
36. Tone Geerkins
"First time I heard this, was an American Soldier "reciting" it as he walked along in front of me, while on exercise in Fiji in the early '80s. as a kiwi I had never heard anything like it...I was hooked!"
-snip-
"Kiwi" = a person from New Zealand
**
37. s99bf0c8
"The verse from 3:44 to 4:44 is unbelievably profound. It's like a concise explanation for why crime, violence and poverty are so perpetuated. The losers of this system are ignored and forgotten, in prison, or dead. The winners simply inspire the kids to follow them down the dark road. It sums up so much in 60 seconds that would years later take a hours of a TV show like The Wire to sum up. Genius."
**
38. aniou ken
"The first rappers had a message POSITIVE despite the violent and difficult a minority context. Today, to my dismay 85% of speech conveyed in the report encourages young people to the surface, delinquency, mediocrity and negativity. Here in France, as elsewhere, a handful of rapper give a conscious message constructive, a rich text, which tends to get you out of shit rather than put you."
**
39. kerndaddy187
"I feel it is my duty as a human being to point out, that the guy in the white pants, by the telephone pole, from the 3:45 to the 4:45 points in this video, strikes the coolest poses in the history of the human race. Madonna talking about strike a pose? she bit off this dudes style! you think I'm lying? watch and learn young grasshopper."
-snip-
"bit off this dude's style" = copied it [stole from it]
"watch and learn young grasshopper" is lifted from the American television series "Kung Fu".
**
40. Jenice Star
"This beat has been sampled so many times lol."
**
41. Joey Fnuts
"When I was like 14 I watched BET every night and my dad would shake his head and make fun of the rap music videos and mimic and mock the rappers. But one day this video came on and he said this is actually good, this guy is talking the real deal."
**
42. Ammar Z
"The last verse is the greatest verse in the history of Rap only second to NY State Of Mind by Nas - Illmatic "
**
43. Joe F
"One of the most IMPORTANT songs in the history of rap!!!!!!"
**
44. oskoolfool12
"FOR THE LONGEST TIME WHEN YOU THOUGHT ABOUT SUGERHILL RECORDS, YOU THOUGHT OF THE FUN RAPPIN SUGARHILL GANG.BUT AS OF JULY 1ST 1982 GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE WOULD CHANGE THE RAP GAME WITH THE MONSTER HIT ' THE MESSAGE ' THESE FELLAS FROM THE SOUTH BRONX N.Y. PUT SOME OF THE GREATEST ICONIC LYRICS THAT STILL HOLD UP TODAY. ITS HARD NOT TO SING WITH THOSE INFAMOUS WORDS THAT SAY ( DONT PUSH ME CAUSE IM CLOSE TO THE EDGE....) YOU KNOW THE REST SPIT IT OUT.....PEACE"
-snip-
"spit it out" = say the rap
**
45. eman126100
"I am white guy and I can relate to this guy's life"
**
Reply
46. 13dirty666
"doesn't really matter what colour you are, it's a brilliantly written song which many can relate to in a way"
**
47. Andrew Wilkins
"i was born in the Bronx this is where i'm from. the graffiti the hip hop the crime the crackheads everyday thing in New York. "
**
48. Nathalie Landree
"Back in the days when New York City was New York City, not some generic gentrified city overrun with Starbucks and Chipotle.
-snip-
[This was] "back in the day when etc..."
**
49. Kevin Dorival
"Music with a message is the true #essence of #hiphop. This song is the epitome of conscious rap. Ladies and gentlemen, we must preserve it or lose it forever."
**
50. PaulANUBIS
"Oh my God this tune along with many others from that era (Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, and the like) lit up a white kids life in the cold cloudy Northwest UK"
**
51. playingmusiconmars
"I listened to this song the first time when it was about 20 years old - now 32 years have passed and the song still strikes as it does back when I heard it first. I bet it's the same with people that were around all the way back then. This is not oldschool music - it's timeless music."
**
52. TheMaddest Max1
"I was 15 when I first heard this on the radio, (John Peel BBCr1 RIP) I jumped so fast to grab and press my cassette recorder against the radio (look it up kids) I stubbed my toe so bad I was hopping and hopping in time with the sweet music (eventually my toenail fell off). The point is. This tune's lyrics are inspirational, I'm fairly sure it was listenening to this over and over that prevented me from choosing prison as an option in the first place."
**
53. Pokemonmaster150b
"I know that this track is about poverty in New York, but a lot of it can be applied to the experiences of the less fortunate here in the Philippines.
Just listening to this track reminds me of the outreach programs I volunteered for back in High School."
**
54. James Batchelor
"For 1982 would you say this song sounds more 70's or 80's? Because music in the early 80's still had a strong 70's disco sound to it, but this seems to have a mixture of both."
**
55. Burhan the Somali
"There are still rappers like this guy. They are just not mainstream and are unknown"
**
56. salladloot
"He says "fag" 2 or 3 times. Didn't get any flack for it back then. People are too gay today"
-snip-
My reading of this comment is that in salladloot's opinion, people nowadays are too concerned about offending gay people today. [as if that was something bad i.e. not good]
**
57. theresa campbell
"love this remember skating & dancing to this song "
-snip-
Skating = roller skating in community skating rinks to R&B (Disco) and Hip Hop music.
**
58. ahmed rashid
"Definately a club banger back in the day"
-snip-
“club banger” = a record that was played a lot in nightclubs
**
59. PHILLIP TAYLOR
"SKATING RINK MUSIC"
**
60. Kaleb Hargraves
"This song was on the scarface game! Played so much"
**
61. kickodude
"Is that an MTV Logo in the corner? So this is when MTV actually showed music? Hmmm"
**
62. CaptainEo777AE
"Seriously! They should take away the M in MTV... That channel does not represent what it was originally made for."
**
63. hddr3
in reply to CaptainEo777AE
"The channel now is more like E!.... seems stupid how there is M in MTV yet they haven't played any music for a long time, almost close to 10 years I don't recall music being played there."
**
64. Angry Bells
"This never gets old for me. But imagine wearing that outfit today?"
**
65. Raoul Duke
in reply to Angry Bells
"it will be back in style again like everything else"
**
66. youeatshowieategg
"Somewhat ironic, given how he looks in those boots and that leather cap."
**
67. Fotographic Cinema
in reply to youeatshowieategg
"That was Style Back Then. Unlike Now. No one knows how to Dress"
**
68. Ryan Alex
"What did he say at 1:39? Was he trying to say social security?"
**
Reply
69. TheImmortal00FTW
"He said:
She went to the city and got so so seditty"
**
Reply
70. Will McCollum
"Seditty= another word for "sophisticated""
**
Reply
71. Azizi Powell
"+Will McCollum, "snobish" is a better definition for "seditty" in that it means that a person described that way is acting like she or he is better than other people. "Seditty" is a negative characteristic, while "sophisticated" is positive.
I think "seditty" came from the word "society" or maybe it came from the word "city". Another African American Vernacular English word with the same meaning as "seditty" is "snotty". I'm not sure where "snotty" came from, but I image that it might have come from the phrase "having your nose in the air"."
**
72. djseriousbizness
"@Ryan Kelly he is saying So So Sadiddy. She went to the city and got so so sadiddy / she had to get a pimp she couldnt make it on her own. FYI sadiddy means to act stuck up."
**
73. mikeweirdd
"Big hit in the Netherlands back then. Knew all the lyrics by heart!"
**
74. Kurz Braten
"Gosh, 2014, i'm from Turkey and this could be a portrait of my country.. exept this is US history and BLACK History... Only god knows what you've gone through. going through. we only see the top of the ice berg that media allows us to have a glimpse on..."
**
75. Semolina Pilchard
"Yep, I watched this great song more than 30 years ago on a Dutch tv-show called TopPop. Weekly 'new' clips, woohoo. Now as kid I didn't understand a thing about what they are singing, but I liked the beat and the synthesizer. At that time I found the artists frightening, with their leather outfits, but erm...nowadays they look kinda gay. Talikng bout a shift in style."
-snip-
Read the comments posted above about the clothing fashions in this video. Note that this record includes the word "fag", a word that is generally considered to be offensive in the United States nowadays. Also, the statement that someone "looks kinda gay" is also usually considered to be offensive.
**
76. Percival Brightbottom
"I had the original 12" vinyl of this when it came out in 1982. And I am white. And lived in the south. Best song of the time. Still holds true. Saw them live a year later."
****
2015
77. Brendon Cariah
"A copy of this record is displayed at the Smithsonian!!! SIR DUKE BOOTEE!!!!"
**
78. Rekt Wizard
"This song Was Rap. Before this it was just herd at house./Block Party's. Grand master flash and the furious were the first rap group. They Created The game. Comment if im Wrong. But All the Greats the joined the game. Tupac,Biggie,Eminem,Dr Dre, Easy E , and so on wouldn't be here it wasent for this song. 100% Respect To this song and the band for starting the Game"
**
79. Reggae4lifee
"Sugarhill gang already in '79 and afrika bambaataa in '81.
also, this wasnt the first song of grandmaster flash & the furious five, they were active in '79 too, with 'superrappin'
**
80. David Borgos
"Rapper's Delight was the first hip hop song. This was the first rap record to have a socially conscious theme."
**
81. Larzuk V
"don't understand why the police took them"
**
Reply
82. Jezz Jeremey
"That's the point, It's showing the abuse black people got (still get in some places) in the US. how they were unfairly arrested for merely being in a group and being black."
**
83. DETbarbers
"The symbolizm is amazing and still true to this day. The end with them being hauled off by the police and with everything going on today just goes to show that things are still the same. Sad"
**
84. Alasdair Hewitson
"It's good to hear a rap song which every second word isn't swearing"
**
85. Konstantinos Filopoulos
"those guys turned disco to hip hop... legends"
**
86. Harley Hatcher
"3:45 ...lyrics too good, not only for the actual content but the rhyme structure too was ahead of it's time. then again that goes for this whole song, definitely a milestone in the history of poetry / rap / that thug life lol"
**
87. BballNintendo
"anyone who wants good music doesnt even care about the lyrics. they just want something they can jam to and that's what MUSIC is all about. rap should be considered an art of its own and not music if people are going to over analyze all the lyrics (emphasizing stuff like wordplay, rhyme scheme, subject matter etc). it's more stressful than it needs to be. but that's how they compare rap artists, instead of comparing of enjoyable/pleasing to the ear the music is. the beats and melodies are what make songs. if all you can do is rap you can't call yourself a musician."
**
88. dreadtodred
"COOL song.One of the best rap songs back im my days.Melle Mel was dropping pure science on this tune.Social Commentary at its best.I remember nyc back in the days.The Bronx,Brooklyn,uptown manhattan,and south jamaice were tore up.There was a lot going in this city.These cats were telling like they seen it,I can relate,Ive seen it"
-snip-
"cool" here means very hip; "dropping pure science" = means sharing wisdom; telling the truth; "tore up" = messed up
**
89. BIONIK DIKK
"This is in the Book of Genesis,in the Hip Hop Bible."
-snip-
Genesis is the first book in the Christian Bible.
**
90. misty peek
"I was playing this and my dad just came n doing dance moves and shit. Did not say one word the whole time and just danced out lmao"
****
ADDENDUM
Selected comments from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMkEMCHtJ4
[The editorial notes prefacing the comments above also apply to these comments.]
All comments (1,315) 8 AM, February 22, 2015
2014
1. Ben Folsom
"Moving on from Rapture, we have the first rap anthem, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's The Message, from 1982. I was living in Italy at the time this song came out, and while most elements of US pop culture took some time to come across the Pond, this song was playing on Walkmans everywhere immediately, it was a huge hit.
This song is notable for its attention to social issues, as previous early hip-hop and rap was mainly about parties and shit and being a badass."
**
2. Ernie Griff
"was The Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight a hit in your area ?"
**
Reply
3. Ben Folsom
"That was a little before my time, it is definitely a memorable tune, but did not take over the school bus the way The Message did."
**
4. Aquari Warden
"If I had to pick ONE song to explain, solidify, Represent RAP ; it would be the "The Message" If I had to pick ONE VERSE ; it would be " A Child is born with one state of mind.... Truly the deepest poetry ; Second to NONE ! "
**
5. jbscornerstore
"Song changed my life, heard it for the first time when I was about 10 years old on Yo MTV raps...several years later I started writing my own raps, then started B-boying and doing Graff in my early teens, my life has been dedicated to this culture since I can remember! Thank you Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Cowboy (RIP), Scorpio, and Rahiem..."
-snip-
b-boy (b-boying) = breakdance boy (also b-girl)
**
6. logicaust
"Still probably top 5 all time everything, for me. The insight, the freshness, the beat, the foresight, the...everything. 1982. Absolute anthem. This is real rap, for me."
**
7. TheSilentSniper
"The brotha beside Melle Mel at 3:50 with his arms folded must be the coolest video bomber of all time. Always standing in a mean b-boy stance and goes with the flow of the beat. Respect."
**
8. Jamil Mukhtar
"Even with their tight leather jackets and jeans, a style the many people today would laugh at and insult, they still spit harder, more real and flow better than most of these rappers. True Rap classsic and great message"
**
9. 1119nj10
"The video is like a time capsule because it shows younger people how NY looked before it was cleaned up in the 1990's. "
**
10. Ellis Cain
"Where was the video shot? Anybody know?"
**
11. dubreil07
Harlem but this is not the Harlem of today. This is when Harlem looked worse than a third world country and was called zombie land.
**
Reply
12. trkk01
"+dubreil07 please gentrification is in full effect. they used to be a lot of mom & pop stores there nothing with changes but harlem lost a lot of soul. "
**
13. Mynamenotimportant
"No Wi-Fi, no cell phones, no laptops, no Starbucks coffee....., must of been a barbaric period...."
**
Reply
14. Jenny Ji
"it was like a jungle sometimes."
**
Reply
15. Max Worthy
"m akes me wonder."
**
Reply
16. IHavenoIDEA814
"How you keep from going under?"
**
17. Reply
bul1881
"Please stop."
**
Reply
18. Badd Lands
"This is when you had no cell phones, and that girl you like either you used a pay phone, or waited for one of your brothers or sisters to get off the house phone with the 100ft cord. And when pagers came out, it was golden!!!.....lofl."
**
19. logicone
"Yeah.. None of that stuff but everything is still the same.."
****
2015
20. Marc-Antonivs Gvzman
"Melly Mel's verse is probably one of the most important verses that explained hip-hop and the way things were in the places the originators of hip-hop were from.
Greatest Rap Song Ever. Urban poetry at its best. Poetry classes in high school and college should use the lyrics to this song to teach and inspire the next generation of poets."
**
21. Jean Gregorio
"En 1982, les radios libres émmettaient enfin de la musique différente de celle des radios nationales, c´est comme cela que les jeunes gens de ma génération ont fait la connaissance avec le mouvement Rap, le mouvement punk et toute une pléïade de courants musicaux jusqu´alors inconnus du grand public en France.
The message est une de ces chansons qui a gravé ma mémoire pour toujours et qui parle du respect que l´on doit á toute personne, quel que soit sa condition...
Aujourd´hui encore je fredonne cet air pendant mes tournées pour me donner du courage à la besogne... Bonne soirée à tous
-snip-
[English translation of French]
In 1982, free radio finally émmettaient different music from that of national radio, that's how the young people of my generation have met with the Rap movement, the punk movement and a whole galaxy of musical currents up 'alors unknown to the general public in France.
The message is one of those songs that has seared my memory forever and that speaks of the respect that must á anyone, whatever his condition ...
Today I hum this tune during my tours to give me courage to the task ... Good evening everyone ^^
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Click https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tjgobkoywsy5saj4ibgkfixr3ba?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics&u=0# for the full lyrics to this record.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY
These comments are a sample of those found in that YouTube video's viewer comment thread.
[This video is no longer available. I replaced it by the embedded video given above on September 24, 2020.].
As a community folklorist, I believe that some comments on YouTube videos viewer comment threads are of folkloric (historical, cultural) value in and of themselves in that they document commenters' perspectives, values, and viewpoints.
I'm aware that other people quoting comments from that discussion thread would likely select some other examples as representative of those found in that thread. I didn't select any comment that included anything other than mild profanity. I also didn't select any examples that contained what I considered to be racist and/or homophobic language. In selecting these comments, I was particularly interested in reminiscences from the 1980s.
These comments are presented in chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first (with the exceptions of replies). These comments aren't necessarily in consecutive order, in part because I grouped comments together which were posted in the same year and have the same or similar theme/s.
I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only. I've also included my explanations of certain words or phrases for some of these comments and I posted a comment in response to a question about a slang word.
From (16,694) comments as of 8:00 AM, Feb. 22, 2015
2012
1. Casparus Kruger
"This was the first band I heard doing serious rap. I was about 30 years old at the time. What I found odd was that just a few years later whenever I mentioned 'Grandmaster Flash' to a younger person who talked about rap music--they never knew who they were. Even in that short time, this market suffered from severe saturation and pretty well since then the fame of any particular artist was even shorter-lived than pop bands in previous years."
**
2. Eric Romero
"There are two types of rap nowadays: mainstream and underground. What's the difference? Mainstream rappers are at the mercy of the corporate boardroom members, and you have little to no say in your creativity: you do what they say, or they drop you. Underground rap: you have no one to answer to, and you can be creative with your music. Grandmaster Flash represents a time where rappers could be free in how they speak, things they say, etc...that's the core of hip-hop."
**
3. ceops68
"Imo this was the ONE making hiphop a world culture! Oldschool pimps still imba Love, peace and unity from Denmark"
**
4. Jari Schroderus
"I'm born in 1973, I remember typing "rap music" on a typewriter. Did not do me any good ;-) But this track is still excellent! I remember hearing Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" for the first time on radio around '79-'80 for the first time. The track that (probably) started it all. The only remarkable thing about this is that our family was living in Sweden then (we are from Finland), and I heard it on the radio. Back then the swedes seemed to have a grasp of what's hot for years"
**
5. Julio Cortes
"the ending part is sad"
**
6. VintageSoundsNumber1
reply to Julio Cortes
"It is sad...and it was the sad reality of being a Black guy in inner cities - New-York or elsewhere; thug or not thug- just because of hangin' around in the street doing nothing made you suspect for a white cop...even Black guys in the police were "racist" against their brothers, in a ceratin way...And all of that had changed but a little nowadays...
**
7. differentandalike
"Wow, I remember listening to this everyday when the song was on the radio. It was the biggest rap song of that year. Lot of good memories."
**
8. yazzufrendo
"...back to the roots....that was the time of 'beat street' and street dance...the where you was going in the pharmacy to get white gloves...going to the supermarkt and asking for paperboxes so we could practice at home an the carpet....nice memories"
-snip-
This comment refers to breakdancing.
**
9. carbon273
"without my dad i wouldve never gotten my ear out of mainstream radio shitty "hip hop", he was the one who introduced me to 80's and 90's rap (im 16 btw) and told me his teenage stories about how rap music was fun where everyone in the hood held up a big ass radio blastin them tunes, grafitti was all over even on trains, freestyle battles (dancing) in every corner and how hype to whole era of hip hop was...i wish i was born earlier :("
**
10. EnglishLeprachaun981
in reply to carbon273
"'even on trains'? Graffiti on trains is really common? I'd know- I'm a leprachaun."
**
11. carbon273
in reply to EnglishLeprachaun981
"no not really i live in brooklyn and there isnt any grafitti on trains as for ten to 20 yrs ago there was grafitti all over...i remember my dad saying that when you grafitti your name on a train you could witness your name go all around the city"
**
12. tswagg504
"Does the Bronx still look like this?"
**
13. fog dust
"nyc was a jungle back then now its ugh gentrified up"
**
14. Rudhra Bala
"back when mtv actually showed music..."
**
15. Christina Funderbur
"Ah yes. The origin of skinny jeans in Hip Hop! Finally, a link! lol"
-snip-
Read other comments below about the clothes worn by the men in the video.
****
2013
16. Ezekiel Hobbs
"Who hits the second verse?"
**
17. Afroqbno Acere
in reply to Ezekiel Hobbs
"lol That's a good question bcuz in the video Rahiem is lip-syncing Duke Bootee's verses. Duke Bootee Fletcher is the original author of the song; when the late Sylvia Robinson acquired it & presented it to the Furious Five they initially told her they wasn't interested in a song that was socially conscience bcuz their fan base were accustomed to hearing party anthems. I guess after some coercion on Sylvia's part Melle Mel decided to give in, but for the record this is not a Furious Five song."
**
18. annlucienq
"Sad how little life has changed for so many. This is one of the greatest raps ever."
**
19. The Bigfoot Canvas
"The first official song about the hood, noone from the hood took Rappers Delight seriously."
**
20. uptown POPPY
"i remember tagging on the 2 train with my lee suit and cazals ..a young child running wild damn what happened to hip hop ..what happend to new york????"
**
31. DJjakedrake
in reply to Jeroen Tel
"are you kidding me. nyc is way better now than the early eighties where entire blocks of building were burned down."
**
22. Mike Bennet
"People born after 1980 don't appreciate how much with the times this song was. They don't remember what sections of NYC, Philly, and Baltimore looked like back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Manhattan was full of garbage strewn lots and buildings with broken window. The subways smelled like piss and shit and were full of graphitti and riding them after rush hour was taking your life in your hands. People were desperate and times were bad. Much worse than this recession we are in now."
**
23. Anglynn74
"for those of us who remember inner city urban blight in the early 80s this video should bring back some memories. NYC has gotten much better since then."
**
24. D Ross1
"I remember glass everywhere , I forgot in the 70's plastic hadn,t yet replaced glass so most all containers where glass or aluminum , needless to say there was a lot more broken glass on side walks and parking lots then you see today"
-snip-
This commenter may have meant "in the 1980s" as that was when this rap and video was produced.
**
25. DJjakedrake
"are you kidding me. nyc is way better now than the early eighties where entire blocks of building were burned down."
**
26. daGod Emcee
"This video took place in my hood .grand master flash use to live across the street from me befor when they neva was stars they use to chill in my grand mom house to eat food ,the hood is clean now ,back then in the Bronx it was ruff ,but I miss this day man!!"
-snip-
"used to chill" = spend some time relaxing
**
27. Rob George
"off to get me lino and ghetto blaster see if i still got the moves ......get a doctor on stand by its been a while!"
-snip-
"ghetto blaster" = "boom box" = a large casette player/radio with a handle
****
2014
28. Brendon Cariah
"Duke Bootee should get all the credit for this song he wrote it, he also is the guy who did the second verse , I always thought his flow was so cool and laid back! "my brothers doing bad, stole my mothers tV says shes watching too much, its just not healthy…"
**
29. funkydopebeats
"yep , he's the second Rapper at 0:24 and 2:00
AND he made the whole Beat with Doug Wimbish !
The should rename it to : Duke Bootee & Grandmaster Melle Mel - The Message
Flash can't complain about it , he had nothing zero to do with this Record
He has his own Classic , Adventures of Wheels of Steel"
**
30. brendonkas
"Classic, Grand Master Flash did not lifet a needle to this song his name was used because he was a popular dj, nor did Melle Mel, the man responsible for this Infamous Classic, is Duke Bootee the guy who rapped the second verse!"
**
31. Jacob Lee
"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"
-snip-
This quote is attributed to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five.
**
32. STEPASAUR
"Funny thing is a lot of you bemoaning the state of commercial rap now compared to this song, this song was created 'to be' commercial, Flash wanted nothing to do with it because of that, even the lyrics weren't written by Raheim or Mel, apart from Mel's 'a child is born' verse the majority of the songs lyrics were written by Duke Bootee, a 'cash-in' but none-the-less a game changer"
**
33. Brian Minnesota
"this is when RAP was just starting to become more than just a MC and DJ in chi-town or new york house parties. these early pioneers of rap they didnt have record deals, they sold tape out the trunk of their car and at house parties..anyone who is anyone in the rap game owes alot to grandmaster, eric-b, rakim, sugarhill, L.L. cool J and a huge prop to Don Cornelius ( soul train!) 80's rap the best
-snip-
Chi-town = Chicago
**
34. 7xhunterx
"you forgot krs one,kool g rap,big daddy kane,african bambaataa,grandmaster caz,dj polo,grandstarr"
**
35. Keith Witcher
"Very good classic song. They gave a very good description of what happens in black neighborhoods without cursing. I like Melle Mel's lyrics when he said a child is born with no state of mind, blind to the ways of mankind. God is smiling on you but he's frowning too because only God knows what you'll go through. I like when one of the rappers said because it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny. You gotta have a con in this land of milk and honey. Props to Puff Daddy and Mase for sampling this on Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and props to Ice Cube for sampling it also on Check Yo Self remix. I like The Message album cover. Nice picture."
**
36. Tone Geerkins
"First time I heard this, was an American Soldier "reciting" it as he walked along in front of me, while on exercise in Fiji in the early '80s. as a kiwi I had never heard anything like it...I was hooked!"
-snip-
"Kiwi" = a person from New Zealand
**
37. s99bf0c8
"The verse from 3:44 to 4:44 is unbelievably profound. It's like a concise explanation for why crime, violence and poverty are so perpetuated. The losers of this system are ignored and forgotten, in prison, or dead. The winners simply inspire the kids to follow them down the dark road. It sums up so much in 60 seconds that would years later take a hours of a TV show like The Wire to sum up. Genius."
**
38. aniou ken
"The first rappers had a message POSITIVE despite the violent and difficult a minority context. Today, to my dismay 85% of speech conveyed in the report encourages young people to the surface, delinquency, mediocrity and negativity. Here in France, as elsewhere, a handful of rapper give a conscious message constructive, a rich text, which tends to get you out of shit rather than put you."
**
39. kerndaddy187
"I feel it is my duty as a human being to point out, that the guy in the white pants, by the telephone pole, from the 3:45 to the 4:45 points in this video, strikes the coolest poses in the history of the human race. Madonna talking about strike a pose? she bit off this dudes style! you think I'm lying? watch and learn young grasshopper."
-snip-
"bit off this dude's style" = copied it [stole from it]
"watch and learn young grasshopper" is lifted from the American television series "Kung Fu".
**
40. Jenice Star
"This beat has been sampled so many times lol."
**
41. Joey Fnuts
"When I was like 14 I watched BET every night and my dad would shake his head and make fun of the rap music videos and mimic and mock the rappers. But one day this video came on and he said this is actually good, this guy is talking the real deal."
**
42. Ammar Z
"The last verse is the greatest verse in the history of Rap only second to NY State Of Mind by Nas - Illmatic "
**
43. Joe F
"One of the most IMPORTANT songs in the history of rap!!!!!!"
**
44. oskoolfool12
"FOR THE LONGEST TIME WHEN YOU THOUGHT ABOUT SUGERHILL RECORDS, YOU THOUGHT OF THE FUN RAPPIN SUGARHILL GANG.BUT AS OF JULY 1ST 1982 GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE WOULD CHANGE THE RAP GAME WITH THE MONSTER HIT ' THE MESSAGE ' THESE FELLAS FROM THE SOUTH BRONX N.Y. PUT SOME OF THE GREATEST ICONIC LYRICS THAT STILL HOLD UP TODAY. ITS HARD NOT TO SING WITH THOSE INFAMOUS WORDS THAT SAY ( DONT PUSH ME CAUSE IM CLOSE TO THE EDGE....) YOU KNOW THE REST SPIT IT OUT.....PEACE"
-snip-
"spit it out" = say the rap
**
45. eman126100
"I am white guy and I can relate to this guy's life"
**
Reply
46. 13dirty666
"doesn't really matter what colour you are, it's a brilliantly written song which many can relate to in a way"
**
47. Andrew Wilkins
"i was born in the Bronx this is where i'm from. the graffiti the hip hop the crime the crackheads everyday thing in New York. "
**
48. Nathalie Landree
"Back in the days when New York City was New York City, not some generic gentrified city overrun with Starbucks and Chipotle.
-snip-
[This was] "back in the day when etc..."
**
49. Kevin Dorival
"Music with a message is the true #essence of #hiphop. This song is the epitome of conscious rap. Ladies and gentlemen, we must preserve it or lose it forever."
**
50. PaulANUBIS
"Oh my God this tune along with many others from that era (Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, and the like) lit up a white kids life in the cold cloudy Northwest UK"
**
51. playingmusiconmars
"I listened to this song the first time when it was about 20 years old - now 32 years have passed and the song still strikes as it does back when I heard it first. I bet it's the same with people that were around all the way back then. This is not oldschool music - it's timeless music."
**
52. TheMaddest Max1
"I was 15 when I first heard this on the radio, (John Peel BBCr1 RIP) I jumped so fast to grab and press my cassette recorder against the radio (look it up kids) I stubbed my toe so bad I was hopping and hopping in time with the sweet music (eventually my toenail fell off). The point is. This tune's lyrics are inspirational, I'm fairly sure it was listenening to this over and over that prevented me from choosing prison as an option in the first place."
**
53. Pokemonmaster150b
"I know that this track is about poverty in New York, but a lot of it can be applied to the experiences of the less fortunate here in the Philippines.
Just listening to this track reminds me of the outreach programs I volunteered for back in High School."
**
54. James Batchelor
"For 1982 would you say this song sounds more 70's or 80's? Because music in the early 80's still had a strong 70's disco sound to it, but this seems to have a mixture of both."
**
55. Burhan the Somali
"There are still rappers like this guy. They are just not mainstream and are unknown"
**
56. salladloot
"He says "fag" 2 or 3 times. Didn't get any flack for it back then. People are too gay today"
-snip-
My reading of this comment is that in salladloot's opinion, people nowadays are too concerned about offending gay people today. [as if that was something bad i.e. not good]
**
57. theresa campbell
"love this remember skating & dancing to this song "
-snip-
Skating = roller skating in community skating rinks to R&B (Disco) and Hip Hop music.
**
58. ahmed rashid
"Definately a club banger back in the day"
-snip-
“club banger” = a record that was played a lot in nightclubs
**
59. PHILLIP TAYLOR
"SKATING RINK MUSIC"
**
60. Kaleb Hargraves
"This song was on the scarface game! Played so much"
**
61. kickodude
"Is that an MTV Logo in the corner? So this is when MTV actually showed music? Hmmm"
**
62. CaptainEo777AE
"Seriously! They should take away the M in MTV... That channel does not represent what it was originally made for."
**
63. hddr3
in reply to CaptainEo777AE
"The channel now is more like E!.... seems stupid how there is M in MTV yet they haven't played any music for a long time, almost close to 10 years I don't recall music being played there."
**
64. Angry Bells
"This never gets old for me. But imagine wearing that outfit today?"
**
65. Raoul Duke
in reply to Angry Bells
"it will be back in style again like everything else"
**
66. youeatshowieategg
"Somewhat ironic, given how he looks in those boots and that leather cap."
**
67. Fotographic Cinema
in reply to youeatshowieategg
"That was Style Back Then. Unlike Now. No one knows how to Dress"
**
68. Ryan Alex
"What did he say at 1:39? Was he trying to say social security?"
**
Reply
69. TheImmortal00FTW
"He said:
She went to the city and got so so seditty"
**
Reply
70. Will McCollum
"Seditty= another word for "sophisticated""
**
Reply
71. Azizi Powell
"+Will McCollum, "snobish" is a better definition for "seditty" in that it means that a person described that way is acting like she or he is better than other people. "Seditty" is a negative characteristic, while "sophisticated" is positive.
I think "seditty" came from the word "society" or maybe it came from the word "city". Another African American Vernacular English word with the same meaning as "seditty" is "snotty". I'm not sure where "snotty" came from, but I image that it might have come from the phrase "having your nose in the air"."
**
72. djseriousbizness
"@Ryan Kelly he is saying So So Sadiddy. She went to the city and got so so sadiddy / she had to get a pimp she couldnt make it on her own. FYI sadiddy means to act stuck up."
**
73. mikeweirdd
"Big hit in the Netherlands back then. Knew all the lyrics by heart!"
**
74. Kurz Braten
"Gosh, 2014, i'm from Turkey and this could be a portrait of my country.. exept this is US history and BLACK History... Only god knows what you've gone through. going through. we only see the top of the ice berg that media allows us to have a glimpse on..."
**
75. Semolina Pilchard
"Yep, I watched this great song more than 30 years ago on a Dutch tv-show called TopPop. Weekly 'new' clips, woohoo. Now as kid I didn't understand a thing about what they are singing, but I liked the beat and the synthesizer. At that time I found the artists frightening, with their leather outfits, but erm...nowadays they look kinda gay. Talikng bout a shift in style."
-snip-
Read the comments posted above about the clothing fashions in this video. Note that this record includes the word "fag", a word that is generally considered to be offensive in the United States nowadays. Also, the statement that someone "looks kinda gay" is also usually considered to be offensive.
**
76. Percival Brightbottom
"I had the original 12" vinyl of this when it came out in 1982. And I am white. And lived in the south. Best song of the time. Still holds true. Saw them live a year later."
****
2015
77. Brendon Cariah
"A copy of this record is displayed at the Smithsonian!!! SIR DUKE BOOTEE!!!!"
**
78. Rekt Wizard
"This song Was Rap. Before this it was just herd at house./Block Party's. Grand master flash and the furious were the first rap group. They Created The game. Comment if im Wrong. But All the Greats the joined the game. Tupac,Biggie,Eminem,Dr Dre, Easy E , and so on wouldn't be here it wasent for this song. 100% Respect To this song and the band for starting the Game"
**
79. Reggae4lifee
"Sugarhill gang already in '79 and afrika bambaataa in '81.
also, this wasnt the first song of grandmaster flash & the furious five, they were active in '79 too, with 'superrappin'
**
80. David Borgos
"Rapper's Delight was the first hip hop song. This was the first rap record to have a socially conscious theme."
**
81. Larzuk V
"don't understand why the police took them"
**
Reply
82. Jezz Jeremey
"That's the point, It's showing the abuse black people got (still get in some places) in the US. how they were unfairly arrested for merely being in a group and being black."
**
83. DETbarbers
"The symbolizm is amazing and still true to this day. The end with them being hauled off by the police and with everything going on today just goes to show that things are still the same. Sad"
**
84. Alasdair Hewitson
"It's good to hear a rap song which every second word isn't swearing"
**
85. Konstantinos Filopoulos
"those guys turned disco to hip hop... legends"
**
86. Harley Hatcher
"3:45 ...lyrics too good, not only for the actual content but the rhyme structure too was ahead of it's time. then again that goes for this whole song, definitely a milestone in the history of poetry / rap / that thug life lol"
**
87. BballNintendo
"anyone who wants good music doesnt even care about the lyrics. they just want something they can jam to and that's what MUSIC is all about. rap should be considered an art of its own and not music if people are going to over analyze all the lyrics (emphasizing stuff like wordplay, rhyme scheme, subject matter etc). it's more stressful than it needs to be. but that's how they compare rap artists, instead of comparing of enjoyable/pleasing to the ear the music is. the beats and melodies are what make songs. if all you can do is rap you can't call yourself a musician."
**
88. dreadtodred
"COOL song.One of the best rap songs back im my days.Melle Mel was dropping pure science on this tune.Social Commentary at its best.I remember nyc back in the days.The Bronx,Brooklyn,uptown manhattan,and south jamaice were tore up.There was a lot going in this city.These cats were telling like they seen it,I can relate,Ive seen it"
-snip-
"cool" here means very hip; "dropping pure science" = means sharing wisdom; telling the truth; "tore up" = messed up
**
89. BIONIK DIKK
"This is in the Book of Genesis,in the Hip Hop Bible."
-snip-
Genesis is the first book in the Christian Bible.
**
90. misty peek
"I was playing this and my dad just came n doing dance moves and shit. Did not say one word the whole time and just danced out lmao"
****
ADDENDUM
Selected comments from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMkEMCHtJ4
[The editorial notes prefacing the comments above also apply to these comments.]
All comments (1,315) 8 AM, February 22, 2015
2014
1. Ben Folsom
"Moving on from Rapture, we have the first rap anthem, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's The Message, from 1982. I was living in Italy at the time this song came out, and while most elements of US pop culture took some time to come across the Pond, this song was playing on Walkmans everywhere immediately, it was a huge hit.
This song is notable for its attention to social issues, as previous early hip-hop and rap was mainly about parties and shit and being a badass."
**
2. Ernie Griff
"was The Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight a hit in your area ?"
**
Reply
3. Ben Folsom
"That was a little before my time, it is definitely a memorable tune, but did not take over the school bus the way The Message did."
**
4. Aquari Warden
"If I had to pick ONE song to explain, solidify, Represent RAP ; it would be the "The Message" If I had to pick ONE VERSE ; it would be " A Child is born with one state of mind.... Truly the deepest poetry ; Second to NONE ! "
**
5. jbscornerstore
"Song changed my life, heard it for the first time when I was about 10 years old on Yo MTV raps...several years later I started writing my own raps, then started B-boying and doing Graff in my early teens, my life has been dedicated to this culture since I can remember! Thank you Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Cowboy (RIP), Scorpio, and Rahiem..."
-snip-
b-boy (b-boying) = breakdance boy (also b-girl)
**
6. logicaust
"Still probably top 5 all time everything, for me. The insight, the freshness, the beat, the foresight, the...everything. 1982. Absolute anthem. This is real rap, for me."
**
7. TheSilentSniper
"The brotha beside Melle Mel at 3:50 with his arms folded must be the coolest video bomber of all time. Always standing in a mean b-boy stance and goes with the flow of the beat. Respect."
**
8. Jamil Mukhtar
"Even with their tight leather jackets and jeans, a style the many people today would laugh at and insult, they still spit harder, more real and flow better than most of these rappers. True Rap classsic and great message"
**
9. 1119nj10
"The video is like a time capsule because it shows younger people how NY looked before it was cleaned up in the 1990's. "
**
10. Ellis Cain
"Where was the video shot? Anybody know?"
**
11. dubreil07
Harlem but this is not the Harlem of today. This is when Harlem looked worse than a third world country and was called zombie land.
**
Reply
12. trkk01
"+dubreil07 please gentrification is in full effect. they used to be a lot of mom & pop stores there nothing with changes but harlem lost a lot of soul. "
**
13. Mynamenotimportant
"No Wi-Fi, no cell phones, no laptops, no Starbucks coffee....., must of been a barbaric period...."
**
Reply
14. Jenny Ji
"it was like a jungle sometimes."
**
Reply
15. Max Worthy
"m akes me wonder."
**
Reply
16. IHavenoIDEA814
"How you keep from going under?"
**
17. Reply
bul1881
"Please stop."
**
Reply
18. Badd Lands
"This is when you had no cell phones, and that girl you like either you used a pay phone, or waited for one of your brothers or sisters to get off the house phone with the 100ft cord. And when pagers came out, it was golden!!!.....lofl."
**
19. logicone
"Yeah.. None of that stuff but everything is still the same.."
****
2015
20. Marc-Antonivs Gvzman
"Melly Mel's verse is probably one of the most important verses that explained hip-hop and the way things were in the places the originators of hip-hop were from.
Greatest Rap Song Ever. Urban poetry at its best. Poetry classes in high school and college should use the lyrics to this song to teach and inspire the next generation of poets."
**
21. Jean Gregorio
"En 1982, les radios libres émmettaient enfin de la musique différente de celle des radios nationales, c´est comme cela que les jeunes gens de ma génération ont fait la connaissance avec le mouvement Rap, le mouvement punk et toute une pléïade de courants musicaux jusqu´alors inconnus du grand public en France.
The message est une de ces chansons qui a gravé ma mémoire pour toujours et qui parle du respect que l´on doit á toute personne, quel que soit sa condition...
Aujourd´hui encore je fredonne cet air pendant mes tournées pour me donner du courage à la besogne... Bonne soirée à tous
-snip-
[English translation of French]
In 1982, free radio finally émmettaient different music from that of national radio, that's how the young people of my generation have met with the Rap movement, the punk movement and a whole galaxy of musical currents up 'alors unknown to the general public in France.
The message is one of those songs that has seared my memory forever and that speaks of the respect that must á anyone, whatever his condition ...
Today I hum this tune during my tours to give me courage to the task ... Good evening everyone ^^
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment