This is NYC in the 80's. Raw and unfiltered. These guys were describing their lives in real time for everyone to hear. And we LISTENED. This song now is a history lesson.
This is 1982 lil brother, i turned 14 that year but lost my Dad at 13. I'm surprised I didn't end up on lock down afterwards but having him for 13 years was enough to keep me straight.
"your eyes sing the sad sad song... of how you live so fast and die so young...." Melly Mel every since I heard this song originally as a kid... that last line has stuck with me... One of the greatest verses in hiphop history.
This song changed how rappers rapped back in that time period. They didn't know they could talk about real sh*t, until THIS SONG. Grand Master Flash, Melly Mel and the Furious Five changed that. After this song, story rap blew up! Technically, this is most influential rap song in hip-hop history. PERIOD. It was revolutionary and it opened the door for reality rap.
I'm from the Paterson, New Jersey, right across the bridge from NYC. I was a teenager when this joint dropped, and me and my dudes lost our minds! We immediately went and got composition note books, pens, 2-40's of Old English 800 and a pregnant nickel bag of refer (folded manila color with the dealer's personal stamp/logo on it, IYNYK...lol). Then we went up in building 3 hallway in the projects where we all lived (called AHP or The POUND... right off Rt. 80), somebody got a giant boom box (JVC with the giant woofer and small tweeter)...and stayed in that hallway for hours studying Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five...and that's how our own group was born...Brick City Crew (latter Jam Lords...I was gone in the military when the name changed) In my humble opinion, pound for pound, considering the DJ, MC's, style, lyrical content, stage show, depth and meaning in the use of language....GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE ARE STILL THE GREATEST RAP GROUP OF ALL TIME....and like Rakim but way before him...they shifted the culture from happy elementary rap to consciousness.
Songs back then were longer on purpose. This was the beginning of the 80s and right off the 70s disco era. Songs were made to be long for dancing. Everything was built for the dance floor so songs were long if they had lyrics or not. Also it was the coke, qualude, etc era and songs reflected that too so they were longer. Lastly, the early rappers before DMC dressed like that cause their role models were the funk and soul groups from the 70s like George Clinton. Run DMC gave hip hop its own identity with style and mannerism. Melle Mel gave us the reality version of rap and the rest is history. We look and sound like those two groups to this day.
This song came out in 1982 in the earlier years of rap - we didn't know the term hip hop yet. I was 23, almost the same age as the rappers back then. Let me tell you, I lived in DC at the time, and this song was on blast ALL summer. Even now at age 65, I still know the words 🎶 🤗🔥💃
@soulknob9991 Hello. I did say almost. I was born in '59, Grandmaster Flash was born in '58 (he is older), the other 3 were born in '60 and '61. That's only a 2 or 3 year age difference. No matter the age, I'll never forget what this song meant to the culture🎶🔥💃
About the planes…. Back then there were a number of hijackings of planes and usually they had hostages and negotiated for things. Although it happened multiple times, it didn’t change our security at the airports etc. That was before 2001. That changed everything. So before 2001, that line means to take hostages and make some demands. Today it takes on a heavier undertone but could still be interpreted to mean he has nothing left to lose and angry at the world so he might strike back on his way out. That line is very unfortunately timeless.
Once again, Melle Mel was, is, and will always be the GOAT! I know music in general has changed, in some cases for the better, but you can't deny Lyrics from the old school are untouchable!
Ye!! It ALL began here … one of the first and the greatest Hip Hop songs ever . I am 56 . Came out when I was I was in 7th grade . These words will forever be in my mind . Inprinted
As a 50+ elder... I love how you (and so many like you), explore hip hop history. I'm a hip hop head. And I must say. This isn't my favorite song...but if you eliminate all recency bias, this is the #1 rap song of all time. #2 is Rakim - Paid In Full (Album Version). #3 Sugar Hill Gang - Rappers Delight. I have so many #4 contenders I can't count. Keep doing your thing. Keep exploring older hip hop. I think you'll understand so much about the world today. Just as when I grew up understanding 60's and 70's Soul/R&B, helped me understand the 90's and beyond.
Fam this was probably The First Reality Rap Song Ever in 1982 ! You had someone rhyming about what many people were going through & seeing in NYC neighborhoods & All 5 Burroughs in NYC ! THIS IS CLASSIC CERTIFIED ! 🫡✊🏾
Straight up classic rap song that is the foundation of any rap song that spits the real and tells it like it really is in urban america. Without this song, we never would have had other rap artist like Ice Cube, Ice T, Tupac, Scarface, DMX, KRS ONE, Public Enemy, Nas, Kool G Rap, and Rakim spitting the type of raps that they spit
Yo Boogie! Imagine how profound this was back in 1982. This song hit the charts before rap was even taken seriously. At the time when this dropped, New York City was damn near bankrupt, and there was a tension in the air that many could relate to. Up until this, rap music was for the park jam, the dance floor, and the house party. This was one of the first rap cuts that was "serious". It wasn't happy. It was about despair and survival. That's why you can relate to it four decades later...
I was 8 when this track came out back in 1982, and being from the UK, I was the only one listening to it in my age group (all my friends liked whatever was popular in the charts). I knew 2 things when I heard this, A) this is going to be the music of the future and B) this was the music for me. My friends thought I was crazy and when they came of age they soon came around to my way of thinking, but by then I was already Beat-Boxin' and Rappin. This track still sounds Fresh to my ear, and today (me being a Jazz-Funk musician) I still throw this track in my set, (along with some Eric B & Rakim inbetween the instrumental stuff we do).
The Greatest Rap Song In 2002, "The Message" was one of the 50 inaugural recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
This was in 1982 this song is called the Message and it was the last time you heard a rap song on the radio that was poignant and tried to open up people’s eyes. After that rap music became Braggadocios (rappers bragging about what they do and how much money jewelry and cars they had) back then there was no TSA and flying was a big deal people dressed up in suits and women in dresses to travel. And yeah planes used to get hijacked a lot. Just look it up. Many of those things he mentioned happened in New York. The girl getting pushed in front of the train really happened she was a music student that played the violin. And her arms got cut off by the train steel wheels it was the first time that they reattached a persons arm and she could use her fingers in order to play the violin again. The man who got stabbed was given a pigs heart this happened in the 1980’s. When he mentions that his manhood is chumped (he gets gang raped) in jail and he’s a Maytag that’s jail slang for. Washing machine because he was washing everyone’s dirty underwear. Yeah that song got everyone woke and after that they NEVER played rap songs like that until Public Enemy but they rapped in code so it took a while before the powers that be eventually stopped playing them on the radio as well.
1983!!!!! I m so blessed to have been part of the HIP HOP MOVEMENT, from the get go. I was holding the Fort back in the mid 80s. Homeboy asked me 1 day what I was listening to on my tape deck? I showed him a mixtape of rap jamz, and the boy had the cojones to tell me, “Rap??? Nobody listens to Rap anymore!” I said Bullshit!!! I do!
I started high school in 79 and this blew everything down a notch. The first rap song was rappers delight and then this hit next. First serious rap I heard .
The original conscious hip-hop song... You should check out: Camp Lo - Luchini AKA This Is It or Camp Lo - Cooley High, one day. Camp Lo is one of the most creative and lyrical hip-hop groups ever - bar none.
6:59 is the outcoldest verse in rap history. He rapped about so many lives growing up in every inner city right there. Just lack of opportunity and you watchin the ones making bank off of the pimp game, drug game, hustle game, easy money but man "when that fire blows ain't gonna be no water" as Prince said.
Ice cube used this beat for his song call ''Check Yourself'' it's on the Bootlegs And B side album, But GrandMaster Flash was the Originators of this beat done way back In ''1982''🎶🔥🔥🔥😎
Man, we are talking about GMF and the F5 and you come with Double Dutch Bus? Now I loved DDB too, however, there is a time and a place and this ain’t it…
40’s, 50’s,60’s,70’s, 80’s,90’s, 2000’s till today.. still singing and explaining about the struggles & treatment… from Blues to Rap music. These songs are a voice and resonate with people who have lived with racism and don’t gloss over things are better or that racism doesn’t exist anymore. Amazing song with raw lyrics about life in NYC late 70’s early 80’s… Enjoy your videos! Your comments during the video are spot on.
Hijacking planes had a moment back in the early 70’s. It was popular. My neighbour even got drunk at tried to hijack a plane from Calgary to Cuba back then. They charged him with air piracy under the Criminal Code. I remember when this song came out, the first big commercially successful rap song. We all memorized the lyrics. Damn
![25 Yr Old Reacts To Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Official Video) [Explicit]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ypKqoQ18Gsw/mqdefault.jpg)
ImBoogie Remix To This Song: ua-cam.com/users/shortsJLLOtluTuAE?si=W-8DZ34AD5xJn_EA
@@Boogie205 you should do the song Self Destruction
It is so refreshing to literally watch a youngin grow into maturity. You doing Good young man, you doing Good!
Dooooope!!! Salute young king!
Since you are on Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. Some request songs: New York New York, and Message II (Survival).
arguably the greatest hip hop song ever
It is.
I always say the same thjng
Not even close . The first song with a meaning yes .
One of them
@@Jersey-fishing-eagle….no, it’s close, but I’m guessing you’re referring to songs where we melodically talk about deleting people that look like us🫡
This song is in the library of Congress as one of the most influential songs in history.
It's one of those songs you can argue is on 2 lists... most important and greatest of all time
YES!
Hip hop went from "just clap your hands everybody" to WAKE THE F UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES with this song right here
FACTS!
All facts 😂✊🏾
I remember Joe Bataan with that party hiphop song Rap-O-Clappo, I think that was still the late 70s. A few years later this came out.
That's why they killed it 🤬😡
That last verse is probably the most important verse in hip hop.
Bar none 📣📢
it’s the best verse
and it was a repeated verse from their first record
And one of the greatest everwritten
This is in the Top 3 most important and influential songs in the entire history of hip hop culture. 💪🏿
IT'S LIKE THAT & HARD TIMES by RUN/DMC are up there, too!!!
U 💯
@@DoSomDiffSucker MC’s near the top as well
Planet rock afrika bambatta@@DoSomDiff
This is NYC in the 80's. Raw and unfiltered. These guys were describing their lives in real time for everyone to hear. And we LISTENED. This song now is a history lesson.
This is 1982 lil brother, i turned 14 that year but lost my Dad at 13. I'm surprised I didn't end up on lock down afterwards but having him for 13 years was enough to keep me straight.
🙏🏿💪🏾
😢🙏🙏🙏
Salute!
May God give you the strength and blessings you need. Keep your head up.
This is one of the most important songs in the history of American music. It was a revolution and changed everything in contemporary music.
"your eyes sing the sad sad song... of how you live so fast and die so young...." Melly Mel
every since I heard this song originally as a kid... that last line has stuck with me... One of the greatest verses in hiphop history.
They also made white lines (about cocaine and freebase) and Survival (only the strong can survive)
He has GOT to do White Lines...
White lines had a line dance to it, long before country line dancing was a thing.
GOT to do White Lines
You're listening to one of the foundational songs of rap. This is one those songs that doesn't get old. Classic material.
This song changed how rappers rapped back in that time period. They didn't know they could talk about real sh*t, until THIS SONG. Grand Master Flash, Melly Mel and the Furious Five changed that. After this song, story rap blew up! Technically, this is most influential rap song in hip-hop history. PERIOD. It was revolutionary and it opened the door for reality rap.
The Storytelling Back in the day was off the chain.
I'm from the Paterson, New Jersey, right across the bridge from NYC. I was a teenager when this joint dropped, and me and my dudes lost our minds! We immediately went and got composition note books, pens, 2-40's of Old English 800 and a pregnant nickel bag of refer (folded manila color with the dealer's personal stamp/logo on it, IYNYK...lol). Then we went up in building 3 hallway in the projects where we all lived (called AHP or The POUND... right off Rt. 80), somebody got a giant boom box (JVC with the giant woofer and small tweeter)...and stayed in that hallway for hours studying Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five...and that's how our own group was born...Brick City Crew (latter Jam Lords...I was gone in the military when the name changed) In my humble opinion, pound for pound, considering the DJ, MC's, style, lyrical content, stage show, depth and meaning in the use of language....GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE ARE STILL THE GREATEST RAP GROUP OF ALL TIME....and like Rakim but way before him...they shifted the culture from happy elementary rap to consciousness.
SuperJay here from Paterson. ✌️
Rakim "My Melody"
Whodini "One Love"
Oran Juice Jones "Walking In The Rain"
Run DMC "It's Tricky"
Songs back then were longer on purpose. This was the beginning of the 80s and right off the 70s disco era. Songs were made to be long for dancing. Everything was built for the dance floor so songs were long if they had lyrics or not. Also it was the coke, qualude, etc era and songs reflected that too so they were longer. Lastly, the early rappers before DMC dressed like that cause their role models were the funk and soul groups from the 70s like George Clinton. Run DMC gave hip hop its own identity with style and mannerism. Melle Mel gave us the reality version of rap and the rest is history. We look and sound like those two groups to this day.
IF I HAD TO PLAY 3 SONGS AS A PRESENTATION OF HIPHOP TO A PERSON THATS NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE,,, THE MESSAGE WOULD BE ONE FOR SURE
Reality rap will never get old
And Melle Mel to this day is fit and active, and looks 30 years younger than he is
This song came out in 1982 in the earlier years of rap - we didn't know the term hip hop yet. I was 23, almost the same age as the rappers back then. Let me tell you, I lived in DC at the time, and this song was on blast ALL summer. Even now at age 65, I still know the words 🎶 🤗🔥💃
You are older than them.
@soulknob9991 Hello. I did say almost. I was born in '59, Grandmaster Flash was born in '58 (he is older), the other 3 were born in '60 and '61. That's only a 2 or 3 year age difference. No matter the age, I'll never forget what this song meant to the culture🎶🔥💃
1 of if not THE GR8EST song in history!! It made tha rest if tha world take hard look @ how we were living in BLACK AMERICA. ✊🏽😐❤️
We went from poor and sticking together to doing better financially and becoming sick like the rest of the world.
1982 I was 15 and this song aged like fine wine 🍷
This song is still relevant to the city's and streets throughout the United States of America ‼️👉✍️🎤🔥🔥🤔
great reaction episode 🎧😎💯💯💯💯
Mount Rushmore hip hop song right here.
This song came out in 1982 and the last verse was done by Melle Mel in his first single "Superrappin" in 1979
About the planes…. Back then there were a number of hijackings of planes and usually they had hostages and negotiated for things. Although it happened multiple times, it didn’t change our security at the airports etc. That was before 2001. That changed everything.
So before 2001, that line means to take hostages and make some demands. Today it takes on a heavier undertone but could still be interpreted to mean he has nothing left to lose and angry at the world so he might strike back on his way out. That line is very unfortunately timeless.
Perfectly explained.
This is the foundation that everything else in the Hip-Hop genre was built on.
this might be the most classic hiphop song in history
Boogie, a lot of artist used this track because it's fire. Hearing it when it first came out, it blew everybody's mind in the Bronx.
Once again, Melle Mel was, is, and will always be the GOAT! I know music in general has changed, in some cases for the better, but you can't deny Lyrics from the old school are untouchable!
The Airports were crazy back in the day…security was almost nonexistent. Planes got hyjacked a lot…
This was the most important group to rap. This group changed rap from rhyming to actually telling a story.
yup.
All rap told a story back then even the sugar hill game.
Classic and still happening today.
1980 Young Brother...1980 and not much has changed since I was 13 years old.
“Self Destruction “ is another must see video with a message that still resonates today sadly.
Arguably the most important song in rap history
One of the most important songs ever made and it's still as badass today as it was back then.
Ye!! It ALL began here … one of the first and the greatest Hip Hop songs ever . I am 56 . Came out when I was I was in 7th grade . These words will forever be in my mind . Inprinted
As a 50+ elder... I love how you (and so many like you), explore hip hop history.
I'm a hip hop head. And I must say. This isn't my favorite song...but if you eliminate all recency bias, this is the #1 rap song of all time. #2 is Rakim - Paid In Full (Album Version). #3 Sugar Hill Gang - Rappers Delight.
I have so many #4 contenders I can't count.
Keep doing your thing. Keep exploring older hip hop.
I think you'll understand so much about the world today. Just as when I grew up understanding 60's and 70's Soul/R&B, helped me understand the 90's and beyond.
Fam this was probably The First Reality Rap Song Ever in 1982 ! You had someone rhyming about what many people were going through & seeing in NYC neighborhoods & All 5 Burroughs in NYC ! THIS IS CLASSIC CERTIFIED ! 🫡✊🏾
greatest rap song ever. thank you
My fav old school song. This came out in the early 80s.
Mella Mel changed the rap game with this song. Rap got serious after this.
Straight up classic rap song that is the foundation of any rap song that spits the real and tells it like it really is in urban america. Without this song, we never would have had other rap artist like Ice Cube, Ice T, Tupac, Scarface, DMX, KRS ONE, Public Enemy, Nas, Kool G Rap, and Rakim spitting the type of raps that they spit
I'm glad you listened to this! As many have commented, one of the most significant rap songs in history.
Yo Boogie!
Imagine how profound this was back in 1982.
This song hit the charts before rap was even taken seriously. At the time when this dropped,
New York City was damn near bankrupt, and there was a tension in the air that many could relate to.
Up until this, rap music was for the park jam, the dance floor, and the house party.
This was one of the first rap cuts that was "serious". It wasn't happy. It was about despair and survival.
That's why you can relate to it four decades later...
Ice Cube featuring Das EFX - Check Yo Self (Remix)
Public Enemy - Can't Truss It
I was 8 when this track came out back in 1982, and being from the UK, I was the only one listening to it in my age group (all my friends liked whatever was popular in the charts). I knew 2 things when I heard this, A) this is going to be the music of the future and B) this was the music for me. My friends thought I was crazy and when they came of age they soon came around to my way of thinking, but by then I was already Beat-Boxin' and Rappin. This track still sounds Fresh to my ear, and today (me being a Jazz-Funk musician) I still throw this track in my set, (along with some Eric B & Rakim inbetween the instrumental stuff we do).
The early 80's was a crazy time to be alive, it might not seem like it but things are Better today in many ways.
The Greatest Rap Song
In 2002, "The Message" was one of the 50 inaugural recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
this is what started hiphop for me, heard it in 85, i was hooked for life
This is where it all comes from youngn! Much love
This is That ONE💯🔥🔥🔥🔥
Released in 1982
One of Hip Hops greatest songs ever.
The last verse of this song is the greatest verse in hip hop history.
This one is pretty intense. About reality, not about fun.
Thank you for this reaction bro. One of the greatest hip hop songs ever.🫡💯
This was in 1982 this song is called the Message and it was the last time you heard a rap song on the radio that was poignant and tried to open up people’s eyes. After that rap music became Braggadocios (rappers bragging about what they do and how much money jewelry and cars they had) back then there was no TSA and flying was a big deal people dressed up in suits and women in dresses to travel. And yeah planes used to get hijacked a lot. Just look it up. Many of those things he mentioned happened in New York. The girl getting pushed in front of the train really happened she was a music student that played the violin. And her arms got cut off by the train steel wheels it was the first time that they reattached a persons arm and she could use her fingers in order to play the violin again. The man who got stabbed was given a pigs heart this happened in the 1980’s. When he mentions that his manhood is chumped (he gets gang raped) in jail and he’s a Maytag that’s jail slang for. Washing machine because he was washing everyone’s dirty underwear. Yeah that song got everyone woke and after that they NEVER played rap songs like that until Public Enemy but they rapped in code so it took a while before the powers that be eventually stopped playing them on the radio as well.
🤯🏆
One of the most important rap songs ever .still relevant in 2025
You said it, nothing has changed.
M.O.P. “Ante Up” 🔥
How about some hard core
@@Jersey-fishing-eagle He did how bout some hardcore already.
Mellow Mel was the first lyrical hip hop artist. He didn’t make simple music back then
Melle Mel... you mean. GM Flash was the DJ.
@@IceManLikeGervin correct thanks I forgot that
@ No worries. Peace
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
….changed the F’n “Game” !!!
You just witnessed History from the beginning ❤
Nothing has changed. Especially for black people. This song was made over 40 years ago( 1982 )Damn!
This song was released back in 1982...
Apache - Gangsta B1tch
Big Daddy Kane - I Get the Job Done
This song is Timeless 5 .🎤 🎙 🎤 🎙 🎤 for sure.
This what really jumped it all off🔥💪🏽💯
1983!!!!! I m so blessed to have been part of the HIP HOP MOVEMENT, from the get go. I was holding the Fort back in the mid 80s. Homeboy asked me 1 day what I was listening to on my tape deck? I showed him a mixtape of rap jamz, and the boy had the cojones to tell me, “Rap??? Nobody listens to Rap anymore!”
I said Bullshit!!! I do!
legendary joint, masterpiece
To me this the precursor of DMXs y'all gonna make me loss my mind☺️
I started high school in 79 and this blew everything down a notch. The first rap song was rappers delight and then this hit next. First serious rap I heard .
The original conscious hip-hop song...
You should check out: Camp Lo - Luchini AKA This Is It or Camp Lo - Cooley High, one day. Camp Lo is one of the most creative and lyrical hip-hop groups ever - bar none.
Check out “The Last Poets” and Gil Scott Heron from 1960s.. this is who Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five were listening too.
6:59 is the outcoldest verse in rap history. He rapped about so many lives growing up in every inner city right there. Just lack of opportunity and you watchin the ones making bank off of the pimp game, drug game, hustle game, easy money but man "when that fire blows ain't gonna be no water" as Prince said.
Ice cube used this beat for his song call ''Check Yourself'' it's on the Bootlegs And B side album, But GrandMaster Flash was the Originators of this beat done way back In ''1982''🎶🔥🔥🔥😎
How haven't you heard this song? Still know every word. Classic one of the best
Because he’s 22?
@@traveldoc1234 Did you read the title of this video?
The last verse is the truth!
The song came out in 1982. I was 12. Legendary to us us young kids in the hood.
Double Dutch bus I use you ROLLER STAKE TO THIS IN CHI 🎉🎉 MY BOOTS STILL ON THR GROUND YOUNG KING ❤❤
Man, we are talking about GMF and the F5 and you come with Double Dutch Bus? Now I loved DDB too, however, there is a time and a place and this ain’t it…
There's no way to sit still when you hear this. Ur body just starts moving! Perfection and a ground breaking song! ❤️
This song was released in 1982 !!!
1982.
I heard this in Berkeley CA on the radio 📻 when I was 8 I was glued to the radio 106Kmel 😅
Westcoast Allstars ~We All in the Same Gang extended version
He should watch the video to see what the artists looked like first.
Showing my age, but when this song came on at the skating rink. Everyone was out there. ! 😂
A little history: Part of the last verse of this song comes from their song (Super Rappin)
40’s, 50’s,60’s,70’s, 80’s,90’s, 2000’s till today.. still singing and explaining about the struggles & treatment… from Blues to Rap music. These songs are a voice and resonate with people who have lived with racism and don’t gloss over things are better or that racism doesn’t exist anymore. Amazing song with raw lyrics about life in NYC late 70’s early 80’s…
Enjoy your videos! Your comments during the video are spot on.
Hijacking planes had a moment back in the early 70’s. It was popular. My neighbour even got drunk at tried to hijack a plane from Calgary to Cuba back then. They charged him with air piracy under the Criminal Code. I remember when this song came out, the first big commercially successful rap song. We all memorized the lyrics. Damn
At 10 years old I was up on Kurtis Blow and Sugarhill Gang but Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel is who glued me to hip hop
Hard to believe this cut is 43 years old. I remember when it came out. Everyone brought the tape and played it on the school bus with a big box
This joint still hits, especially now!❤
1st hip hop video I loved
Do
"What people do for money"
By Divine Sounds. 1984 was the year
This one ☝️ !!
Great follow up to The Message.
listen to their song step off that is the one i love
One of the greatest of all time hip hop songs. It sucks that some people still live like this.
1982 - one of the greatest songs of all time
This is when they really told a story with their lyrics. As a young Asian man I rapped along and I was feeling this.