Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Didn’t realize how funky this album was. Knew its place in hip hop history (and “the message” is still great) but was a bit taken aback at how much funk there was. Very much a transitional record. Also dug “the adventures of grandmaster flash” for the scratching and was that Debbie harry rapping? Beats are pretty good if dated.
Maybe it's just because it's from the early 80's, but I thought this was good. Not something I want to listen to over and over, but I wasn't ignoring it and hoping it would be over soon.
Is “It’s Nasty” the first track to sample “Genius of Love”? It’s gotta be towards the top of the list. It’s actually pretty transformative as far as that sample goes. Legacy rap that’s also fun to listen to. Obviously it doesn’t sound a lot like what rap these days - it’s pretty indebted to 70s funk and R&B and early 80s pop (even some gospel) - but you can hear the genre evolving by the song. The title track in particular is a cornerstone.
two classic innovations - rest is a transitional set - have to give a 3 b/c its impact
Some great songs but some dross too
Funky, disco-y at times with a solid hip-hop flair. Not my favorite album we've heard yet but pretty good.
Not my genre but I enjoyed it for most part
One of the very first hip hop albums! Its importance and influence is huge, but it's far from perfect. The massive standout is The Message, maybe the first political hip hop song with a super iconic and funky beat. The first 2 songs are quite good too. I like the groove of She's Fresh and It's Nasty is a bit primitive, but still a fun rap song. Now since it was 1982 they couldn't just make a full album of rap songs, they had to put some bullshit poppy smooth soul songs (Dreamin, You Are) which kinda suck. The other 2 songs are fine but sound a bit basic and haven't withstood the test of time. It's a fun and interesting listen, but not consistent at all. I'm leaving 3 stars for the cultural impact
Pretty good early hip hop. It's kind of weird to listen to now since hip hop has come so far in the past 30 or 40 years. So different from the modern stuff. This album is something I would listen to just to get some perspective on the genre and it's evolution which has been pretty amazing to listen to over my lifetime. I kind of wonder if these guys knew what they were starting when they made their first beats and lyrics so long ago.
Not what I was expecting. Cool to be able to trace the origins of various genres through this exercise, but I won't voluntarily go back to this one. The Message is cool and Genius of Love is great, but not sure they added a lot to that one.
I get that it needs to be on the list because of it’s influence on Rap but I feel like it’s been given enough of its due.
Not as much rapping as I was assuming, much more in the funk/soul realm than later hip hop. Pretty good album overall
6/10
Er ikke tvil om at dette er viktig, men som album er det ujevnt. Tittelsporet er såklart den største bangeren, men «She’s Fresh» har også mye for seg. Utover det prøver de seg på veldig mye forskjellig, og det er kanskje ikke rart da sjangeren var så pur-ung. Så det er noen singler som fortsatt sitter, og det kommer de til å gjøre i mange år til. «Scorpio» høres ut som en Kraftwerk-parodi som gikk litt forbi Kraftwerk. Så er det plutselig kasta inn to svisker som teknisk sett er greit fremført, bare veldig mid skrevet. Men det er gøy å høre albumet med historisk perspektiv. Det gir for eksempel veldig mening at de som har framført norsk parodirap fra 80-tallet har hørt dette og ikke for eksempel Rakim eller Public Enemy. Norges første rappelåt er visstnok en Crispo-reklame hvor de rapper over beaten til «The Message». Jeg måtte søke den opp på Youtube da jeg var ferdig med originalen og jeg er litt trist over at jeg tenker på Crispo når jeg hører noe som egentlig skal være viktig.
I remember hearing The Message either on the radio or TV, I think. This would have been in 1982, and I would have been around 8 years old. I feel like I’ve known the lyrics, “Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge. I’m tryin’ not to lose my head" since birth. When I saw my next album was The Message, I was interested in seeing what the other songs sounded like. I was very surprised, or maybe shocked is the word. The song The Message is one of the first rap songs that wasn’t just about bragging. It was about how hard it was in the streets for young black men. It was a social message you could dance to. It’s definitely the father of gangsta rap. But The Message was track seven on an eight song album. Track one was She’s Fresh which starts out with a horn section leading into a dance song with no rapping. What? It sounds like a reject from the Commodores album that had Brickhouse on it. It’s not bad, but it definitely isn’t The Message. Hmmmm. Track two is a song called It’s Nasty which is the music from Mariah Carey’s Fantasy, but they’re rapping about how they’re freaks and you better lock up your daughters and wives. Okay, now we’re back on track. You have to grade these early '80s rap songs on a curve because we’ve heard so much since then, but it’s a solid track. Nothing great, but if you needed a dance track, it would work in a pinch. Now, track three is a song called Scorpio and it’s a banger. This was one of the best early electro tracks. It gives off Rock It vibes from Herbie Hancock. It’s a very cool track and I imagine it really blew some folks away in 1982. The album goes on to devolve into mediocre singing and clunky rapping. There’s a tribute song to Stevie Wonder called Dreamin' that is so cringe, you have to hear it to believe. The singing is not good and the lyrics sound like they were written by a middle schooler who had a month to come up with a song, but waited until the night before to start working on it. Whoa Stevie, that's why (that's why) when we dream of you (dreamin') We believe anything that you see Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's why (that's why) it's because of you (of you) We would like your dreams (our dreams) turn to reality (reality) Later in the song, someone asks Grandmaster Flash if he thinks they’ll ever meet Stevie. I can picture Flash patting the little guy on the head and saying, Maybe one day, sport. Maybe one day. So once you get through the junk, you get to The Message and it just kills all the other tracks. You can feel the grittiness and realness in the lyrics. The other songs seemed try-hard from a group of kids who were trying their best to make music that was popular 10-15 years before 1982. What I think happened is, the group released The Message as a single, it blew up, and they needed an album. So, they cobbled together seven other songs and put out a rushed album just to get some product out in the stores. You might think I’m going to tell you to skip the album titled The Message and just listen to the song titled The Message, but no. The album is so crazy and weird and not good. I think you need to hear it. I may even go back and listen it it from time to time when I need a good laugh. Oh! I almost forgot! They have a Jesus song on the album called You Are. It's so weird to have a song about loving Jesus after a song called It's Nasty which brags about how freaky they are in bed. It's like they asked all their friends from different genres to submit a bad song to put on the album. I guess they thought a rising tide floats all boats. I'm beginning to really turn around on this album as I listen to it again. Forget everything I said before this and listen to The Message, the album, by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Synth out the gate! Lots of simple lyrics and hype energy, in a classic funky alt 80s way. I've heard "It's Nasty" before for sure. Scorpio is a bop. I'm sensing some early Daft Punk in the vocals.
Surely relevant for hip hop, but sounds silly to me.
Decent album. Scorpio sounds like the best Daft Punk song I’ve never heard.
This is actually quite bad. A 3 because the Message is one of the best songs ever.
6.5
Masterpiece in hip hop music.
the non-rap filler is yikes. but holy shit the rap stuff. So good. ugh really should be a 4 star.
fun corny 80's rap! its dated, but still enjoyable for what it is.
It was neat hearing a lot of beats I recognized in current music.
an album by one of the most influential hip hop artists
The title track is a classic. the rest were fun, though not revelatory. (That Stevie Wonder track was just downright weird.) The version I listened to had The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash and the Wheels of Steel on it, which is an all-time single, and I would argue is better and more important than The Message. but that wasn't on the original LP as far as I can tell. on a nostalgic note, i had a GMF compilation album when i was a kid, and i damn near wore that tape out. That material was light years ahead of its time and ruined hip-hop for me for the next several years until Public Enemy finally came along and picked up the mantle. That compilation was better than this, so I can't help but be a little disappointed in some of these tunes. Still, I love these guys. I guess I'm giving this a 3 only because I don't know what else to give it.
History lessons via rap that I can dig.
So much fun. It's quite dated, and the major song from this (The Message) does mostly just make me want to listen to contemporary covers of it.
I'm kinda torn why this is on the list. If it was about Songs, The Message should 100000% have a placement. It's Hiphop in it's earlier stages in the early 80's. I enjoyed some tracks, very funky and raw still. Some other not so much, but I'm not the biggest early-mid 80's Hiphop fan.
3.5
It's Nasty reminded me of Flight of the Conchords. Which was probably intentional and added to the appeal of it, at least for me. Some of the lyrics are comical, seemingly unintentionally. Otherwise, it's kinda fun, retro-dance music. Also, proves that doing Soul well ain't easy. Amirite, Ladies?
Fresh listen for me for a first time
Flows aged poorly, lyrics aged alright, production aged wonderfully.
Funky, groovy, and the lyrics are downright cute. A bit of politics, but not too much. A Stevie Wonder fan (love?) song. Very anti gangster, some Jesus love, also don’t push me, cause I‘m close to the edge…oh also some misogyny, yay! Poor men get fucked over by women, who are too feminist l.
One of the better hiphop albums I’ve gotten, pretty funky. I was surprised to see there was a song I knew (It’s Nasty). Decent stuff
Why do they sound like the Black version of Wham
Not my sounds but I enjoyed. Was hoping for more funk. Definitely heard sounds that shows they were potential influencers of Michael Jackson, Prince, and some early hip hop
Truly a mixed bag. The album is bookended by decent songs, which are the bread around garbage filling. Tracks 1 and 2 are fun. 3 and 4 are instantly forgettable. Track 5 is just weird; it’s an homage to Stevie Wonder which is an okay idea, but it seems that they are actually in love with Stevie in a creepy stalky way. Track 6 is just boring, slow crap. Tracks 7 and 8 end the record strong. You will notice a pattern. When the songs are built around funky hip hop beats, they are often good. When the songs are R&B ballad style, they are awful. These guys should have stuck to what they did well. Despite some strong moments, this album is as clear a good/bad mix as you will experience on this list, so it gets a middling grade.
This is like catching the bus from the airport to your hostel on the first day of an overseas holiday. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. A couple is going for a stroll through a park, while some female uni students sit on a blanket having a picnic. Younger children are playing baseball. But also there is a smack head passed out on a park bench, and three older boys are discussing stealing the kids’ baseball bat and lunch money.
An intersting mix of funk and hip hop. The title track is such a banger and its influence can be heard to this day. But tracks like Scorpio and your are fell a bit flat.
Not what I was expecting in the first half but went to more expected territory in the second. Clearly hugely influential and ‘the message’ is a classic but the compilation nature of the album means it lacks cohesion.
Lacks a bit of cohesion as it pilfers a lot of genres as its influences and sounds very dated but has a degree of nostalgia to the palette of sounds used, likely because of its influences through samples following its release. Has made for an interesting journey on ‘who sampled’ as you can see the significant influences it had on hip hop that followed. Was also interested in how it used samples itself which was probably still relatively novel at the time.
Title track is amazing and the first two songs are great but there's not much to save from what's in between. Still a pleasant listen
It's alright.
THE MESSAGE
Just not my groove. I know it’s important in the grand scheme of music, I just don’t care.
daleks
Hell yeah, that album was a lot of fun. Just good ole hip hop. So pure, it wasn't so self-serious. But it also had some real gem moments.
Feels dated but still fun. A couple great tracks
Def understand the importance of this album, just not for me
i think your a bad person if you don’t like this album
A funky bassline and some joyful vocals
A mixed bag, the ballads are very average indeed but the hip hop/rap tracks are excellent. Would have benefited from the inclusion of The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel.
Not bad - excepting Message didn’t grab me though
слишком (местами?) пародия, не увлекло
This album has some amazing beats and funk. There are some great songs on this record (see the message and it's a shame) but there's also some unremarkable tracks too.
Pretty easy listen
Important album but it's hard to listen to the same "My name is ____ and I'm hear to say, I like to rap in a major way" flow over and over again. "The Message" is pretty great, tho
An album that is actually less hip-hop than I expected. The Message is the standout and just that song alone has an insane amount of influence on the genre that it's impossible to think about the history of rap and not mention it. The rest has a fun/groovy vibe, but doesn't live up to the title track. This album definitely deserves to be here because the influence is just that strong.
Hiphop of this era doesn’t usually do much for me (I can appreciate its roots rather than enjoy listening to it). This was really fun though, some cracking rhythm lines and while the MCing is kind of corny, it was still a fun time.
It feels illegal to rate this so low, but just was not my vibe. Though it was cool to hear some familiar sounds, since it seems like a lot of artists sample this album! Just unfortunately felt very dated. Very Karlos and Chico doing the old school battle rap in Wild N Out. All respect for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but just not my thing.
Impressive how much this album has been sampled and remixed that the songs are all familiar without ever having heard anything beyond the message.
Puts the fun in funky
Great handful of songs, but more uneven or even dull for stretches. Very influential
That's not my taste in music - But ok
I really liked Dreamin' and You Are. I thought I liked the title track more than this.
I’ve hardly listened to hip hop, so I can’t really judge how good the songs are. But I liked the bass in “She’s Fresh.” The bass really drives the rhythm, and the track is punchy.
Dreamin’ // The Message
Not just foundational for hip-hop, but an interesting mash-up of genres as well. There's a bit of funk (with a dash of disco), soul and even religious music here too.
Early 80s hip-hop? Is there yet hope for the genre? ...But this doesn't sound like hip-hop at all. It's much better than anything I ever could've expected from the description. Fast-paced, punchy, and the cheesy electronic clap-percussion manages to still be infinitely better than a trap beat. There are definitely ties to Stevie Wonder, as highlighted by the band themselves in Dreamin': "We'd like to send this one out all the way out to Stevie Wonder (Yeah, Stevie) / After all, he's the greatest". When the lead vocalist goes in, man, he goes *in*. That particular track also has a lot of Wonder-esque chord progressions, mannerisms (e.g. one bar of melody going up an octave), lots of melodic syncopation, lush backing vocals, horns and keyboards... One of the strongest tracks here for sure. The song You Are is similarly Wonder-ful but a bit less wonderful. We open with She's Fresh, which isn't the most singable music in the world, but the delivery of the title vocal is so fun and funky. The Furious Five's energy is contagious. Some simple, sharp, biting horn lines punctuate the album, along with tasteful bass playing. And a chorus of kazoos in It's Nasty (Genius of Love). Hey, whatever works, right? Most of the verse vocals are spoken/chanted/shouted in all the tracks, which is obviously a big minus. In Scorpio, the entire vocal is delivered by a monotone techno/robo-vocal, which is also a pretty significant downfall. Though the track doesn't exactly blow me away instrumentally either. The synth sounds on Scorpio, more than any other song here, are extremely dated and shatter the "cool funk" illusion established by the previous tracks. The final track, The Message, is rock-solid – I can easily see how it was a hit. A signature post-disco song with that wah-wah synth bass and lasery synths in the higher register, coupled with clichéd "disco guitar". It's a shame that It's a Shame (and Scorpio) are on this record, because it would be pretty darn fantastic without them. 3/5 Key tracks: Dreamin', The Message
The love letter to Stevie Wonder is bizarre and the next song grinds the whole album to a halt but overall still pretty good.
This is a stark but welcome follow up to Kendrick's To Pimp a Butterfly. I almost wanna laugh at how only like 60% of this album is Hip Hop but it's early days for the seminal American genre. Oh to be in NYC 43 years ago. Well the 1001 albums to hear should definitely have at least one song dedicated to Stevie Wonder! Title track is an obvious real stand out. It's a piece of history. I'm trying to think where I've heard it before but it's left a cultural footprint that makes it hard to determine.
I was really surprised by how R&B-ish a lot of this is. A whole love letter to Stevie Wonder, which is a sentiment I can get behind, but it does drag on. And then you hit "The Message", which is just amazing.
An entire track where the chorus is how they are dreaming of Stevie Wonder? Not at all what I expected to hear today but I'm here for it. And so many samples in "The Adventures" all mixed in so well.
Best Song: The Message I get it, this is old school hip hop and I wouldn't get the hip hop I know and love without it. That being said, this did very little for me. This was a first time listen that I am sure would have been rated much higher if I had listened to it at the before listening to later hip hop. But, I didn't so a 3/5 it is.
It was cool and but not smt i would listen that often
funkay
I wonder who they love more, their mothers, Stevie Wonder, or Jesus? I'm giving this a 3/5, but it's bad. It extremely dated sounding and has the cringiest of lyrics (that Stevie Wonder song (shudder)). But it's also kind of entertaining with the R&B/Disco/early rap combo that didn't last very long. It's a time capsule that's worth opening every twenty years or so.
-damn this is an absolutely ancient hip hop album, one of the earliest i’ve heard. you can really hear the ways in which the genre evolved from funk and soul on here -i’ve heard the title track and watched the video in a music culture class i took last year. it is phenomenal. the rest of the album, generally not as much but the influences are still cool to observe -Favorites are She’s Fresh and The Message
Scorpio and The Message are absolute classics of early hip hop but other than It’s Nasty, everything else on here is filler (considering Wheels of Steel wasn’t on the original release). Clearly the genre was still finding its place and the labels didn’t know what to do with it. The concept of the hip hop album was still being discovered and would be until the mid-80s before we would get the classics of the genre.
Some of it is SO fun, especially on a holiday Monday. But a few songs are unbearable.
Good funk, some real building blocks for those that come after
This is great when it's rapping, especially The Message, which is rightly a classic but the other stuff doesn't interest me much.
Clearly influential for upcoming rap and hip-hop. Interesting to see the funk still in there.
not my type of genre but it wasn't that bad, honestly I could listen to new york, the rest were fine.
Hasn’t listened to this for years, there’s some very weird/bad filler but Message and Nasty are classics. Good averages out the bad
DON'T. PUSH. ME. CAUSE. I'M. CLOSE TO. THE EEEEDGE. I don't know what to say. it seems to me that this album is like ironic thing.. 3/5
Silly feeling album with the best love song to Stevie Wonder I've ever heard.
I feel like I could talk myself into any rating from 2 stars to 4 stars on this one, so I'll go in the middle. Sometimes it's cooking ("The Message") and sometimes it feels like some guys' high school project. The low point is probably that Stevie Wonder song. "The Message" is referenced in Hamilton, so that's a fun bonus.
Hyvä sanoma... Jeesuksen hyvä sanoma
Important but sounds very dated
Highlight Song/s: It's Nasty (Genius of Love) and The Message I don't feel this album should've been included on 1001 albums, yes I suppose it is influential. But I suspect they only included this one because of the title track, which I feel is a bit lame. Anyways majority of the rating comes from the title track, because its just THAT good
"She's Fresh" is super fun and funky. It's a little dated, but these guys helped invent the genre and it still is more interesting musically than a lot of early hip hop. Overall, cool album of fun, funky beats, pulling from some cool influences to create a really interesting album.
Some funky samples but it did lose steam in the middle. Classic closer and really the highlight of the whole album.
It feels its age, but it wasnt bad. It's just such a dated version of hip hop. Great for what it is and how important it was
The Message was certainly a ride of an album. Now we get to what is probably the first hip-hop album by release date on this project, Forget Run-D.M.C., forget Duck Rock, this is the real first one and it shows as this album feels like it takes inspiration from many R&B and funk albums rather than it's non-existent contemporaries. For being an early hip-hop album, it's basic but still quite enjoyable the production and beats were fun and the lyrics were interesting with one of the tracks being a full-blown Stevie Wonder worship track (I mean, good taste, Stevie is good). It still has a lot of cheesiness but it is certainly quite enjoyable. Best Song: The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel Worst Song: The Message
Hip hop has come a long way! Early as a piece and foundational it doesn’t translate and feels stale
No está completo en spotify asiq no lo escuché completo, le pongo un tre
The beats are funky The rapping feels dated Bass slaps hard thoe, like really hard
"The Message" +2, "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel" +1, rest of album is pretty dated
It flows in a weird way as an album. A lot more funk and soul than I expected. The Message and Scorpio were outliers compared to the rest of track. Something also tells me that they were big fans of Stevie Wonder. 10/10 for Scorpio and The Message. The rest were around 3-6/10 for me.
It's like a time travel machine that whisks you through 70s funk and soul and lands you in early-80s hip-hop, specifically in a particular dorm room in 1983.
Title track + It's Nasty are pretty good. The rest are fine.
toen rap/hiphop de mensen nog een geweten schopte ipv te stoefen over ho's en bitches... eerste songs zijn knaller en laatste is de beste... de gezongen nummers, die mochten gerust van de tafel rechtstreeks in de recyclagebak gevallen zijn...
Just listened to that one song
"The Message" as a singular track might be one of the most important in hip-hop history. Probably the earliest example of social commentary finding its home in hip-hop, a genre that was still in its infancy and largely consisting of party raps and fun wordplay at the time. Not to mention the (very iconic) rhythm track has been sampled numerous times since as well. I'll be honest though, the rest of the album is a bit hit or miss. There's a strange mix of slower, more romantic songs that you'd normally find in an R&B record and even a pure electro track in "Scorpio", a bit reminiscent of what acts like Afrika Bambaataa would put out around this time. The title track and a few others are worth the price of admission though (which is free in this case, but you get my point!)
Hip hop isn't my thing but I love funk. I get that this was early 80s and hip hop has changed a lot since then, but this is infinitely more listenable that any hip hop in the last 30 years. I know that's quite a 'get off my lawn' take, but whatever. There are some cool grooves on this album for sure, I would really call this more of a funk-adjacent album than hip hop. It's still not quite to my taste, but at least I didn't struggle to get through it. 2.5/5
Pretty funky.
Un 3.5 pour moi. Vraiment des solides tracks, gros album, influent mais au final ce n'est pas mon genre de hip hop préféré, un peu trop old school et répétitif. Quelques chansons viennent nuir au flow de l'album. Quand même une écoute divertissante
FUN. Mais trop inégal. 😢 3.49 étoiles
Most of the album consists of very charming R&B and primitive rap that feels of a piece with what a lot of other pioneers were doing at the time, then “The Message” itself plays and it feels like a transmission from an entirely other dimension.
Very solid 80s hip hop album!
its pretty good
Was funky, fun and more enjoyable than I thought it would be. However, there's too much transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny for my blood
3/5
Picking this up thinking it’s another album selected because of That One Song, but it’s more varied than I had thought it would be. Getting a kick out of It’s a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove) and The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel.
Wikipedia calls this "old school hip hop" but honestly, I don't really feel like this album is very hip hop, as a whole. To me, this listens like a soulful funk album with touches of hip hop here and there, but maybe I'm just being pedantic. The bits of hip hop that are on this album definitely are "old school hip hop", though; they're incredibly funky and infused with the black excellence genres of the time.. There's a lot of variety on this album, and it's definitely a jam. A fun listen!
Sounds eerily familiar to something I know
Extremely dated rapping style, but they have some really good samplings.
I enjoyed this.
Cool vibes!
Couple of electro songs at the start were fun, and obviously "The Message" is about as essential to hip-hop as a song can be. The rest is a hard skip though
Pretty okay. Many many samples originating from this one and then also a surprise christian song in there.
Liked it, saved a couple songs!! Cool to see where some iconic samples come from. Wouldn’t usually listen to this kind of music albums so not a 4
This album is a time capsule of early hip-hop energy; playful, funky, and socially sharp. It kicks off strong and keeps the vibe fun, but after Scorpio, it loses its footing with a few tracks that don’t hold up. That said, it knows how to reel you back in, especially with the title track, The Message, which stands tall as the undeniable centerpiece. It’s the one that carries the weight and legacy of the album. Overall, an enjoyable listen with a few bumps along the way. 3.5 Stars
The Message really stands out here, but there a couple of other hits.
Solid/fun hip hop record. "It's Nasty" is a highlight, but it losses a star for the robot voice in "Scorpio". No robots!
3/5
What an interesting listening experience. I'm a fan of funk, there's plenty of grooving happening on this album. There's also familiar samples from many future efforts, so it's kind of fun to see them in an early form. It feels like this was an influential album in general, which makes sense given the release year. The musical range was also interesting. There were electronic soundscapes, piano pieces, and standard funk instrumentations depending on the track. Vocal styles varied as well, with some soulful singing juxtaposed with group rap. You never knew what was coming next. For the negative, it did feel dated and as early-80s as it could get at times. There's not much they could do about that, though. I'm sure at the time it sounded cool af. It appears that the playlist I used had some tracks from the extended addition and not just the original album, so I'll do a sort of two-part critique here. For the original 7 songs, the diversity of songs and composition was really well done, as mentioned above. It culminated in a serious (but strangely fun) "Message", which punctuated it nicely. The extended tracks kinda bloated it, even though the added songs weren't bad. I can understand why they weren't included on the initial release. I'd say the album is good, especially considering where it came on the musical timeline. But, for me at least, it was not something I'd consider a level up at great. It's fun, funky, and enjoyable, and I would listen to the songs again. I don't know that I'd want to play the whole album with frequency. Overall: 3.5/5
3/5
Cruciale plaat, maar soms ook wat aandoenlijk. Je hoort de groep als het ware op de plaat zelf het genre hiphop uitvinden, en aftasten wat de beste balans is tussen disco, rap en electro. Zo is opener "She's Fresh" een Rick James-ripoff met te weinig rap-elementen. wordt in de Tom Tom Club-rap "It's Nasty" net het verkeerde loopje uit "Genius of Love" gesampled en merk jij tijdens "Scorpio" dat electro beter werkt met hier een daar een gesproken woord of zin, niet met complete verhalen door de vocoder gerapt. Vervolgens zijn er ook nog wat rare Quiet Storm-uitstapjes die niet goed op de plaat passen. Enfin, "The Message" is natuurlijk een all time great, net als "New York, New York". Onmisbaar pionierswerk, al met al, maar ik zou eigenlijk aanraden om de "White Lines" single te halen, in 1983 uitgegeven op 12" in Frankrijk. Daar staan alle beste tracks op, en zijn de missers weggelaten.
This is rap but it's also loosely termed as "rap," mostly because there is a lot of singing on this one as well. You Are is essentially a piano ballad. Dreamin' is also a track that basically R&B and not rap. There isn't anything wrong with that, but this album essentially in the book due to The Message. If you are going to want to put early rap in the book there may be better artists that have a more representative footprint. I would probably have put one Eric B & Rakim album in this book over this one.
More fun than I expected. Will revisit again!
I can't say I relate to the cheese of it all but it's an important touchstone and, giving that a pass, it's pretty fun to listen to.
3 - good funky hip hop album
wobbly vinyl, synth und distorted bass. Was will man mehr, Aber jetzt auch nicht weltbewegend
Very difficult to find on the streaming platforms. Nice 80’s album.
Legendary, iconic, and a watershed moment in hip hop music. But the soul tracks were a major disruption that took me out of it.
It is nice to hear the call and response "I love my mother" as part of She's Fresh (we mother's aren't often celebrated for our coolness). Scorpio may have been ahead of it's time but feels very dated and tiresome now and some of these tracks don't feel like hip hop at all. We all love Stevie Wonder but Dreamin' felt out of place. Mixed bag.
Great for it's time, but a lot of duds. 2.5/5
Rating: 3.5/5 | Favorite Track: The Message --- The title track is iconic and a perfect track if there ever was one and there are other tracks on this I really quite enjoyed. On the whole though the album had consistency issues bringing the listening experience down a little. Still solid and influential record though.
Not my style but had some classic and fun beats. One song near the ended sounded like it was skipping though and it was annoying. Could've been a bad download from Spotify
hip hop foundations with some 70s light soul. It;s a mixed bag.
Listened Before? N As the Beasties said: OH MY GOD THATS THE FUNKY SHIT! Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: The Message
Half the album are stone cold classics, with the other half being somewhat forgettable.
Still alright but obviously here for just the last song
Awesome album, not my favorite genre though, otherwise it'd be higher.
Message indeed
Last 2 tracks are all time classics. Rest of the album is a bit dated, but i’ll let it slide since it’s a foundational hip hop album
Cool vibes and moves, The Message is an excellent song. So old hip-hop is not always my cup of tea, but these guys were interesting listen to.
It's a classic and glad I listened to it in full, that being said I doubt I'll ever listen to it again.
The good parts are really really good, the rest of it is… well, dated and kind of bizarre at times. Surely that Stevie wonder song is some sort of parody? What a mixed bag
Klassisches Hip Hop Album erwartet, aber hier und dort dann doch normalen "Soul" oder gehört? Hat mich n bisschen rausgeworfen
Ganz okay :-)
I'm sure it is very important in the history of hip hop... The title song is strong, but rap has evolved and improved a lot since this. 2.8
It was cool, I listened to most of it but not my favorite
Didn’t have access to the full album but enjoyed the songs I did have access to. Especially loved New York New York and loved the Message. Lyrically and sonically empowering and gave a window into the time it was
good funky record, good raps
Some bangers and stuff that is later sampled to great effect, but some of it just feels corny.
Certainly unique or different in its musical approach, but nothing I care much about.
When this hits it is an absolute blast but when it misses, it misses huge. The songs that work make the rest forgivable though. This is an album worth hearing.
Wild the difference between this and modern hip-hop. It was fine, but probably not something I would come back to.
Stilbildande album. Går inte tycka det är dåligt.
Not my favorite but I respect the history
Uneven
3.3 2x cool
Mixed feelings on this. I think it had some iconic bass lines and catchy hooks but I didn't really enjoy it much. It feels like a goldmine of samples
Has some fun moments, but overall falls short. I really appreciate the early foundation this set for hip hop, but it doesn't do a whole lot that feels fresh or interesting. However, it is cool that the group is clearly made of talented musicians. There are some fantastic performances on this thing. The songwriting and structure just leaves a lot to be desired. 7/10
This is an interesting mix of old skool rap, dance, R&B. Sock it to me, I love my mother. Scorpio is pretty cool in an 80's robot kind of way. I like the groove when the guitar and bass are vibe'n on It's a Shame but it feels a little like a public service announcement. Kids are starving, bombs are dropping, rich people are greedy, let's scratch some records. Dreamin' : I wonder if Stevie Wonder was weirded out when he heard this song. Cuz you know he did, and I would totally be weirded out. You Are doesn't feel like it fits on this album but okay, God bless you. The Message - classic 80's rap. New York New York appears on the 2010 expanded edition and ends with a mother throwing her newborn baby in a garbage can. Overall I think this is a pretty interesting album if you are looking for old skool rap. I like the funk bass playing and the 80's synthy sounds are cool. It's a 3.5 for me but not quite a 4.
Quite liked
Fun album, I feel like it's on the cusp of a 4, but doesn't quite get there. Extended versions at the end were all good.
The Message song is a classic (but leads my mind to GTA Miami 😆), the album hasn't aged well though and goes pretty R&B cheesy in places
Seminal for a lot of artists/groups that I listen to regularly, but not enough going on here to entice me to revisit this album often. The Message is still a banger.
The instrumentals were pretty cool (even if they went on a little long) and the lyrics didn't quite hit for me, so I guess it averages out at a 3.
Great hit. Weird deep tracks
Real old school. An OG. More funk than I realized. Dug it.
I tend to enjoy older hip-hop far more than newer one. Very groovy, no bullshit and straight to the point. This was back when hip-hop was either about partying or social commentary, and before devolving into hedonism and gang life. Key tracks: The Message
Decent. A few catchy tunes. I greatly appreciated the song dedication to Stevie Wonder.
Pretty solid. Second song was meh, otherwise good!
Old school! I like the beats and some of the things he says are insightful and creative. The delivery is kinda nursery rhyme ish by my modern sensibilities but I can recognize that as a personal preference.
Pretty good but didn't make me ooh and ahh
I liked this.
Maybe would listen again. I dig this, but I don't LOVE it. The Message is of course a classic, and the rest is pretty good. Some of hip hop culture REALLY has not aged well, though. And by that I mean the rampant homophobia.
It's OK. Like I always say about early rap albums - it's incredibly anachronistic to the point where it's almost sweet. I was into it at first, then it got a little repetitive.
Fun album, but undeniably goofy.
funky grooves but they get old quickly. i found myself waiting for end halfway through each song.
Molto simpatico e groovy
Alveg skemmtilegir sprettir hér, helst ballöðurnar sem ég er ekki að dansa við, en svona prótóhiphop nær bara ákveðið langt. Þarf ekki að hlusta oftar en tvisvar.
Cool and funky album. Standout songs: Shes Fresh Its Nasty The Message
groovy you are is a gem
Strange mixture of brilliant and quite frankly, a little disturbing
Seems like a pretty important album in the evolution of hiphop, specifically that Grandmaster Flash pioneered the setup for using turntables, scratching, extending breaks, etc. I recognized the title track. I also recognized the tune from "It's Nasty" mostly from Mariah Carey's song, though I learned the original was by Tom Tom Club (Genius of Love), a band that emerged from Talking Heads - so many interesting things! This album has more variety than I anticipated, e.g. I didn't expect the soul/ballad tracks (Dreamin, You Are).
Sort of all over the place, likely because it was so early on for rap as a genre. When it's good, is quite good. But, it's just as often corny or cringe inducing.
The title track is a stone cold classic, but the rest kind of flails around. It makes sense being the cutting edge of hip hip
I'm confused, but I like the song! Could not find the album...
Definitely some early sampling and rapping. I don’t know enough of the genre to know this albums importance, but it was fun.
The message (song) is a classic. The rest was kind of whatever to me
Thoroughly enjoyable old school hip hop! But samey after a while but still enjoyable!
Fun, great samples from this album. Old school rap
Første hiphop album - virkelig fedt! Åbenbart første gang man i hiphop rappede om andet end bare damer og bling og lir. Inspireret kunstnere som NAS og Kendrick Lamar det er disco funk hiphop
This album helped set rap/hip hop up for success. The fun they're having, the beats they created, the samples they used, and the influence they had must be recognized. Mariah Carey, Tom Tom Club and others made a career of sampling "It's Nasty" and "The Message". That's rap royalty right there. The songs and the vibe are so much more fun than today's mumble rap and gun toting nonsense. They set the stage for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J and so many others to break through and create a genre of their own. The influence cannot be denied but the album isn't top to bottom great, "It's A Shame", "Dreamin'" & "You Are" are almost unlistenable. Overall I enjoyed the trip to yesteryear and hearing then what would become the cornerstone of rap/hip hop for years to come. Top 1001 for Influence
If we are being charitable and including "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", which is maybe the most important recording of the last 50 years, but which wasn't originally part of this album, there are 3 incredible songs here: that, "Scorpio" and "The Message" Unfortunately the rest is basically filler. It was early days, they were figuring things out. It's fine.
This was alright - neither particularly good or bad in my opinion
This album stared out super strong and was even considering giving it a 5. The first two songs are funky and a lot of fun, and I love any song that samples Genius Of Love. Track three was fine and reminded me of Robot Rock by Daft Punk. But then track four was really lame. And track 5 was a pretty bad ode to Stevie Wonder, and then track 6 is a wannabe Stevie Wonder song. At this point they really lost me. The message is good and the last song with all the samples was fun, but at this point I think the album is too flawed to gain any points. High 3.
For some reason 6 out of 11 tracks are not available on this album on Spotify. Regardless, this album, while hugely important at the time is very very dated by todays standards. If you enjoy simple A/B rhymes then boy will you enjoy this. Just listen to The Message and move on.
80s cheese. Dreamin was especially cheesy.
01) She's Fresh - 6,5 02) It's Nasty - 7,5 03) Scorpio - 7,5 04) It's a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove) - 7,5 05) Dreamin' - 7,0 06) You Are - 6,5 07) The Message - 10,0 TOTAL: 7,50 (75/100) Current ranking: 205/413
I wasn't familiar with the name of the band. But I already knew the song The Message. I don't like hip hop. But I do like funk. And this really is a pretty funky hip hop album. It was fun in parts. The album probably won't appear in my daily stream, but it was quite interesting. 3/5
This is what I like to call a jukebox album, where the songs aren’t necessarily unified by one sound but are a variety of genres and styles. The first two tracks are good dance floor fun with an old-school hip-hop style. Then the album takes a surprising turn into what feels like proto-techno with “Scorpio.” A couple tracks later there are a pair of Stevie Wonder-inspired soul songs (one of which explicitly praises Stevie Wonder). I think the results are hit or miss. Of course the real reason this album is on the list is “The Message,” a classic early rap song. It holds up great! The flows still sound fresh and the beat is fantastic. There are days when that hook gets stuck in my head out of nowhere — “Don’t push me, cause I’m close to the… edge!”
This is a wild album. It's impressive, it's cool and badass, and it's also at times perplexing. It feels like throughout there isn't one clear or obvious stylistic direction and it hurts it sometimes when listening. "It's Nasty" and "She's Fresh" are fun funky typical early hip hop tracks, "Dreamin'" is a classic R&B track with an amazing (and at times a little "too much") bass line, and "The Message" is more rap than hip hop focused. It's definitely enjoyable and a really fun listen.
A fun album. Definitely nostalgic
Album 624 of 1001 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (1982) Rating : 3 / 5 Hip-Hop is not my thing but this was alright. Certainly some tracks I recognized. Would be near the top of my hip hop albums, for sure.
It was alright, it was fun as a novelty, a point in time of the development of a world-strangling genre. Worth acknowledging the ground breaking thing that it was, but also worth acknowledging that it mostly isn't that much fun to listen to. Still, it was better than I expected. I found it interesting that the back half had actual singing, and the music was still basically funk. 3 for making me think without being too annoying, but also 3 for not really being that arresting
These early hip hop/rap albums are a tough listen. Some good stuff on here but it’s not cohesive yet. It’s 1982 and a genre is still trying to develop. With 3 stars I’m acknowledging the album as an early pioneer more than the overall content provided.
I don't think I have ever listened to this front to back. Should be a good one though!
Just ok, but better than most early hip hop for me. Some doesn't come off as hip hop at all though. 3/5
Doesn't feel like it was quite a hip hop album already. She's Fresh and The Message are true rap songs and my clear favorites on the album, but the rest of the album is much more late 70's funk-like. A shame Message II is only on the extended edition of the album, because its one of my favorite songs here.
It's hard to judge this solely on its merits, as it's like a Tiktaalik just having left the water and starting to crawl, on its journey from fish to land animal. Dreamin' and You Are seem really out of place on this album. The rest is fun, especially the title track.
3/5. This album is hilarious. There is a perfect blend of surface level serious lyrics, so direct about the problems of the world, and yet saying nothing. Themes about God being our savior and how there is greed in the world but that we got to stick together. It's so basic it's funny. The music is pretty good, first few songs are good, drags so hard in the middle, and then the message and the adventure saves it. A whole song about Stevie Wonder is crazy and despite singing about loving each other, using gay slurs seems to be alright. This is a weird one and I don't think it's great, but I'll put it on for a good laugh. It gets a 3 because some of the songs are still really good. Best Song: The Message, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, She's Fresh
Was disappointed that so much of this album was blah, except "The Message" and "It's a Shame" that was sampled from The Spinners song by the same name.
Tune
Seems like this is only a "must listen" if you really want to explore the roots of hip hop, but for the most part it's like a snapshot of people figuring out what hip hop is going to be.
Tosi erilaista mitä odotin, tää olikin hiphoppia. Osa kappaleista funkkia ja soulia. Scorpio taas tosi electro. Monipuolista. Its Nasty:stä on otettu Big Dick Energy sample. The Message on Check Your Self biitti :D Parhaat: The Message, Its Nasty, Its a Shame
Interesting as a piece of music history. It blends 70’s funk and hip hop. I didn’t like it but it’s interesting
Not a big rap fan, but “The message “ and “White lines” are excellent.
A friend of mine had this album at college, so this is a trip down memory lane. Not all of it holds up but overall a pretty good album IMHO
They shouldn't have used the Extended Edition, which might mislead a new listener to think this important historical album and song was released in 2010 instead of 1982.
Fun. Liked it. Will listen again in the mood for the mood.
Fun and nostalgic.
Was hoping to like this a bit more than I did. The beats were funky and enjoyable but they did not get me hooked for the most part. However it IS genuinely brilliant in spots. I definitely see how this was inspirational and influential. Definitely worth a listen at least once in your life time.
To me this album is all about the song The Message, which was the first great hip hop song. The hook to that one is excellent. However overall I think this album doesn't hold up in terms of beats and flow. It was too early in hip hop's evolution
Maybe this album was more important when it was released, but it didn't really do anything for me as a full album. A couple tracks are bops, but the album as a whole just feels slapped together with no real sense of direction. Good bass grooves though
This album is certainly interesting, and it's nice to see how far hip-hop has come. Unfortunately, hip-hop has come a long way, and the album is clearly pretty old fashioned and basic.
This was not bad! Not really my thing, but perfectly fine to listen to while working.
Sounded okay. I'm sure it is a very influential record, but I will not likely return to it, except maybe for the title song.
About 2.5 good, nearly classic, songs, but the rest is not compelling.
Super cool hip hop with great samples, but knocked down a star because of the random preaching in the middle and the homophobic slurs
a bit boring sadly
“ Blacks and whites don't realize that they're really pink and brown” Very funny album. They seem to really like stevie wonder. Not much replay value though. “The muffled screams of a dying baby” *epic saxophone riff*
Album started super strong. I thought this was going to be a good time. Enter it's a shame and dreamin and we lose all the energy. The message is iconic but it's 4 minutes too long. Message II couldn't get us back to having a good time and then NY NY finished us off with another song that was 4 minutes too long.
Blast from the past with cool samples and fly rapping. 'The Message' (the one from Happy Feet) alone is enough to make this a classic. The Stevie Wonder tribute song 'Dreamin'' is a nice touch, but loses a lot of power when the follow-up track 'You Are' then really sounds like a cheap Wonder knock off. Rather unnecessary.
Definitely more fun and funky than furious. The title track is legendary and the humour on especially the ode to Stevie Wonder is still intact. But while I acknowledge the important of it, I am just now blown away by The Message in 2024.
The birth of hip-hop was so cheesy, and fantastic. Laid the groundwork for some amazing artists.
Definitely feels dated nowadays, but you cannot deny the charm and the style. Flash and the crew make even the most mundane things look cool.
Dreamin was good I'm surprised its one of the least streamed songs. I didn't like scorpion. The rest of the album was okay, lots of iconic beats.
Strong finish some duds in the middle, overall enjoyed it
Pretty good, a few strong tracks
Very dated, but I enjoyed this way more than the other rap/hip-hop on this list.
Kinda dated but great things about it.
Not for me
A lot of funk and soul mixed in, I was expecting awkward rhyming over basic beats and samples. Pretty good album and historically important but not something I want to listen to again.
Hmm I don't know, I can appreciate early hip hop and record scratching, but The Message (track) was the only song that really jumped out here. And the two ballads in the middle were so slow and long that I had to skip one. I'm sure this was formative, but I wouldn't listen to it again or really recommend it. 2.5/5 Listening notes: Classic 80s hip hop here. "It's Nasty" with the Genius of Love sample, hell yeah. Lots of 80s robot voice. Dreamin: a ballad for Stevie Wonder? Wanted to skip this one after a while You Are: another ballad.. sotof a "You are so beautiful to me" cover? Ok now it's a christian inspiration track.. this is boring. ok I'm skipping. The Message: ok now we're talking!! classic sample and lyrics. "it's like a jungle sometimes makes me wonda how I keep from going unda" "don't push me cuz i'm close to the edge, i'm tryin not to lose my head" Final track: just a classic journey through turntable scratching and mixing. Lots of returning to the classic Good Times beat. and wait.. is Another One Bites the Dust sampling Good Times too?? Had to check - no just "strongly influence by" hah.
an album of two halves here Clive. On the one hand some founding rap beats (Message, Nasty, Fresh and electro banger Scorpio); on the other some lame r and b/soul - the rest. So three it is.
This album really caught my attention with that power funk opener. I like this one better than many rap/hip hop albums.
The album is unavailable so I listened to a few that belonged there, it was ok, I appreciate it is not just rapping. 3.5
Not bad, except for the unexpected sermon near the end
Funky and fun, like a house party. Samples will echo into hip hop.
Skate Center throwback. A lot of fun, but feels more dated than i remembered (even though several artists have sampled and freshened up over the years.
Golden age of hip hop
Nice sound some dates but overall ...
definitely dated now since hip hop has changed a lot since then(hell even 6 years after this released, it had changed leaps and bounds), but its still a really cool record, very transitional with the combinations of singing and rapping.
Some great tracks, some ridiculous tracks.
This was quite silly. I see the vision though. Some of it was good. I impressed some people at work by listening which felt good.
The faster songs were fun but I thought the slow ones dragged it down a bit.
The Message is just iconic. I actually enjoyed the rest as well. A little preachy and more religious than I was expecting.
Surprised by this one. Wasn't expecting to enjoy it as hiphop isn't usually my thing, but enjoyed She's fresh, It's nasty and the Message (which I'm positive has been sampled elsewhere). Standout track for me was Dreamin', a tribute to Stevie Wonder. Hated Scorpio, which was like listening to Ross from Friends' 'Sound', hence only 3 stars overall. Album let down imo by Scorpio, which sounded like the music Ross in Friends makes...
Solid beginning and end with some nonsense in the middle. 3.5
BROKEN GLASS EVERYWHERE!!
My name is Matt and I'm here to say, The Message rocks in a major way. Dated? Sure. Influential? Without a doubt. Iconic? Meeeehhh Most of what we hear on this record is pretty forgettable, but it's hard to ignore the concrete being poured here that would form the foundation of the most popular music genre for the next 30 years.
Even though the legendary message is on here this cant escape dated 80's sound
Was thinking this was going to be a 2 star but The Message and The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash brought it up to a weak 3.
I knew The Message (the song) was good, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the rest of this too
The furious five created the term Hip-hop, the use of the term MC for rappers, and defined what the genre could be on the complete other side of the gangsta style. Old rap can sound a bit goofy nowadays, but the album still hits.
An interesting mix of styles and a number of elements that seem well before their time, seeming to predict much later developments in rap. Many of the lyrics leave me in a state of confusion. Can a song that says, of Stevie Wonder, "when we dream of you, we believe anything that you see" be something other than, if not parody, at least joking? Other songs seem so over the top as to surely be parody, but apparently that is not what the intended. It's hard to square. Overall, well executed, funky and listenable.
Doesn’t hold up great, but still has some Juice. behind it.
Placed in context probably higher. But it just doesn't hold up, the message is a powerful song though
Soft rap. Good album 7/10
Half of it is blocked in canada so it's harder to judge but it's kinda fun! not my style of music though.
Kyllä, he huvittelevat ajoittain vain omaksi ilokseen - mutta aina hyvässä hengessä ja huumorintajuisesti. En ole varma, kuinka avartavia räpit ovat, mutta biitit ovat ohittamattomia.
Super cheesy in places (“Dreamin,” “You Are”), but also some iconic beats (“It’s Nasty,” “The Message”). It has just enough charm to counter the cheese. I was kind of irritable when I listened to this, so it didn’t go over as well as it otherwise might’ve. Favorite track: The Message
It's a bit up and down really, and quite a mish-mash. The opening few tunes are funky as shit and a real good time, and then the next few definitely fall off and are a bit weird and dated. Then there's a strange ode to Stevie Wonder, a bit of a soulful ballad.. and obviously The Message, which is back to being upbeat and funky. It's a bit inconsistent, but I had a good time.
This is too old school for me. The beats are great (even if they sound a bit dated) but the lyrics are not amazing. Not sure I needed the soul numbers included.
This could have been a far better album without “Scorpio”.
Ait, kanskje litt masete
Gooood!
Refreshing kind of hip hop, just not sure I get how it’s supposed to be groundbreaking, maybe his earlier stuff is
Veikeä levy tääkin ja vahva 3/5
Klassikkobiisi päätää muuten aika keskiverron old school-levyn. 3/5
It all sounds familiar, which I think means iconic 🤷🏻♀️
The amount of samples present + the amount of times this has been sampled by others = 🤯 Would I ride around blasting this? No. Did it make me Google samples then download an app that helps identify samples and usage? Yes.
I liked some songs, but the overuse of synth kinda ruins some of the album.
https://youtu.be/SzFVYRrYNWQ?si=lNfehNIEVLL8H120
Fun old school hip hop album. This has a vibe from a very specific place and time, which isn't always super appealing from a current sensibility. But it's still highly listenable and a great blast from the past. More melodic and soulful than I expected it to be, which was a nice surprise. The title song is, of course, one of the greatest songs in hip hop and well worth the cost of admission. Fave Songs: The Message, Scorpio, You Are, She's Fresh
One monster, but also pretty high quality in some of the other tracks, given how early and formative this was
Would I listen to it again: no Is it a no-skip album: no Favorite song: The Messsge Least favorite song: You Are Do I like it: yes
Lyssnat på denna tidigare en del och tycker den är helt okej. Det är spretigt och bitvis förstås omodernt, men genomgående ändå rätt trevlig lyssning. Pluspoäng förstås för hur nyskapande detta var när det kom.
Sounded funky
I've known the Message for a while now, everyone has, but what I wasn't expecting was this goofy little album attached to it, and I still don't know if I mean that as an insult or not. It's never a dull moment, you got the early stages of hip hop, you have some disco elements, you have synthesized voices that would make Kraftwerk blush, and oddly you have ballads and gospel. Everything here doesn't fit together at all, but they try and smash it together in such a way where it's kind of like watching a movie so bad it's good. Except, this hypothetical film has a relatively profound albeit dated ending that shaped its genre long after. The gospel track genuinely made my jaw drop when I realized what was happening, and nearly every track before it (especiallt including that Stevie Wonder track) wasn't far off in terms of my sheer bewilderment. It actively feels BAD, but I was having a good time, and I guess that has to count for something? I don't know, stick with the titular track if you're looking for serious origins of hip hop and not something to laugh at for thirty minutes. Honestly? Funnier than most hip hop skits of the 90s.
3 - What an odd album. I don't know how silly it's supposed to be, but it made me giggle a couple times. It has a pretty fun feeling to it. I was bobbing my head the whole album.
The Message ‘Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did Got sent up for a eight-year bid Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag Spend the next two years as a undercover fag Bein' used and abused to serve like hell Til one day, you was found hung dead in the cell’ Obviously The Message is a classic, not just in early hip hop but in music generally, but I wasn’t expecting much else from this. Not in a bad way, I just assumed that this would be interesting from a historical perspective but would be a mixed bag musically, aside from The Message. Perhaps a lot of filler and turn tabling but not much else. She’s Fresh is really good though. Not much rapping but musically a great bit of early hip hop party music, quite an 80s RnB sound but with a good beat. It’s Nasty (Genius of Love) is also an excellent bit of early rap. Great use of Tom Tom Club before ODB and Mariah. This is a strong start and much better than I was expecting. Scorpio is fun too but not as strong as the first two tracks. Quite Afrika Bambaataa in its electro space sounding vocoder. The drum machine sounds I like. It’s a Shame (Mt Airy Groove). I suppose they can’t call it anything else. Nice use of the sample though and some good scratching. I like it. Dreamin’ - what the fuck is this?! Not expecting this at all. You Are, more what the fuck? What’s happening? This is odd. Not because these two songs are bad, they are fine enough examples of early 80s soul and RnB, although they are perilously close to Sexual Chocolate territory (and if I heard Lonely Island sing them I wouldn’t be surprised), but it seems so strange that they would write and perform such conventionally structured songs. It doesn’t feel like an experiment in versatility and diversity more like we need two more tracks. And the spoken word bit about meeting Stevie is unintentionally very amusing. Maybe they are meant to be joke songs. Not sure. Just feels very strange The Message, aside from the lines above I always like the bit where he says ‘broke my sacroiliac’. Brilliant song, rightly a classic and a landmark song. I listened to the original UK release with The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel as the last track, rather than with the extra tracks, which is probably a good thing. TAOGFOTWOS is still a great track and brilliant but of musical history. I think it’s probably around 3 in terms of the music itself and that it doesn’t really feel like a ‘proper’ album. But as a historically significant musical landmark and as something so influential it’s a surely a 5. I don’t think I can give it a 5 though, and even a 4 feels a touch high. I could argue to myself that The Message and TAOGFOTWOS are worthwhile enough to push it to 4, but 3 feels about right. ⭐️⭐️⭐️