The Message

Why is every song unavailable bro. Oh wait what is gracing my ears?? What is this melody?? Gives me downtown vibes. Yeah bang speak on it. Ooh what is this beat. Yeah ok. Get funky. What the fuck. I honestly don't know how to feel about this actually. Favourite: Scorpio Least favourite: Message II (Survival)

It starts off with some really cool funky beats and then they give you some disco and some electro and you start thinking to yourself "hey! this is pretty fun!" only for them to then betray your trust by making you listen to the worst Stevie Wonder tribute song you've heard in your entire life and then immediately right after a song about accepting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into our hearts. With that being said, The Message is the best song in the entire album and you should go listen to it.

The thing that stands the test of time is the production. So many recognizable beats and the ones that are new to me are electric and moving. Talented lyricists but some of the performance and style seem a bit hokey today. Enjoyable album, regardless.

Fun sampling. Later stuff better. Has 'The Message which is probably what you will recognize

I think it’s cool for its time and genre. 6/10

Если со стороны хип-хопа заходить, то это больше музейный экспонат, чем хоть сколько-то интересный альбом для прослушивания в 2к26. К тому же это еще не прям от корки до корки рэп пластинка, но и фанко-соуловые номера не особо впечатляют. Короче можно обойтись месседжем, больше ловить здесь особо нечего.

Стандартный хип-хопчик того времени - близко к фанку, но уже подобие читки. The Message иконичная, остальное ну пойдет. И всё ещё лучше мамбл-рэпа.

It was fun. Definitely why I like this project. I've know about Grandmaster Flash and little bits about early hip hop, but never checked it out before. Probably not something I'll listen to much. But glad I did.

The first half of this album was fun and fresh. I think that Grandmaster Flash is iconic and has integrated with the like... fabric of culture itself, because so many riffs and lines were recognizable to me. But then the album slowed down into R&B and 7+ minute songs and lost all steam. R&B doesn't often catch my interest, and I didn't enjoy his voice enough to appreciate back to back slow songs after such high octane energy.

Very influential album. 3.5 stars

Album is significant in the history of rap music. But, it struggles a little when the music becomes more r&b focused. The more upbeat, rap songs, are decent. 3/5 Might listen again

Про страдания черных в гетто в Нью Йорке Прикольно, звучит плотно и чисто Есть хит Почти как kool and the gang 3.1

Some classics on this which were nice to find. Not sure its my favourite rap style but the music and beats were good fun

This seems like kind of a hopelessly naive form of hip-hop all these years later, but most of the songs are fun to listen to.

This album sounds like an early attempt to hip-hop music. It has interesting beats, groovy bass lines - I like that. I don’t like those drum machine beats which sound childish to me. However, many song were in soul genre and it was pleasure to listen to. Not to mention iconic Message song instrumental.

So cheesy and so fun

6/10

Bangin the whole album through

It’s a wonky album! Enjoyed the first couple of tracks, but then the experimental electro of Scorpio was less tolerable. The Stevie wonder tribute was confusing but then we finish with the all timer The Message.

As a kid of the 80’s, I loved the vibe of this album. I could listen to this one at least once a week and be cool with it.

How long did it take for Stevie Wonder to file a restraining order against the group after he heard "Dreamin'"?

This album was kind of strange and not at all what I was expecting. It was fun though. Love how funky a lot of it was. It’s Nasty with that Genius of Love sample is great. I also liked It’s A Shame. The Message of course is a classic. I thought Dreamin’ was a little odd though. It was written for Stevie Wonder and it’s kind of…idk, intense? I’d be curious to know the context behind why they wrote that song. Were they friends with Stevie? Did Stevie help them in some way? Did Stevie know they wrote that song or are they just weirdly obsessed with him? Lol. I have no clue but it felt out of place. I did like how it was written in Stevie’s style though. The following song You Are also felt out of place because there was no beat/funk going on. The vocals were really pretty though. Overall the album was an interesting journey.

The album art alone deserves a 10. This album is funky and fun. It’s got some great hip hop and soul roots, what a combo. The music feels dated but I’m sure at the time it was not, and there are still some highlights throughout. This album goes all over the map from rap or hip hop to soul and even gets a bit gospel, pretty awesome to experience. Finally, ‘The Message’ is iconic of course.

70. beginning and end were great

Its crazy to me how identifiable the 1980s are in every kind of media that came out of that time. I'm sure someone could argue that its true for any decade, but something just stands out so so much about any 80s music, movie, etc.

Not the worst listen but can’t help but feel it’s a bit dated.

Very old skool and not an unpleasant listen but doubt I will listen again. Interesting that hip hop has developed so much since the early 80s, I think I prefer the funk influenced early days.

An enjoyable if clearly dated album. Liked the robot voice song the most. Love the fact that Grandmaster Flash invented the slip mat, that’s weirdly cool.

An absolute classic of a hip-hop album, but whilst I can appreciate a lot of the effort, some of the tracks towards the middle sort of lose the feel of the album.

Enjoyable, and definitely classic, but it doesn't do enough for me to move out of the three-hole.

I know this is a classic, and I know it marks the birth of commercially viable rap, and there's some good songs on here, but no thanks to the R&B. It keeps it at a three, for sure.

3/5 - Ultima I and Wizardry defined the computer role playing game genre in the early 80s. There'd be no Baldur's Gate 3, Skyrim, or Disco Elysium without those works. That doesn't mean I want to go back and play them for more than a quick laugh at how clunky games used to feel. The rating is purely for influence; have no desire to spend time here.

I enjoyed it but then it was kind of overwhelming me

5/10… electro funk / hip hop / *1982

Nice, but didn't blow me away.

1/29 Classic old-school hip hop. Really the only type of rap that's tolerable to me

Way more diverse than I would have expected from only knowing The Message, White Lines and Adventures of..., unfortunately it wasn't for the better

The 80s rap is great. And old school vibe but it doesn't sound dated. It then has songs that are paens to Stevie Wonder and a bit schmaltzy for my tastes. The spoken word bits won't be to everyone's tastes. The Message is a great song and although the album does make a lot of it, they don't overdo it.

varied album with much to enjoy and standout track that spawned a genre

Not bad

Mocno naciągane 3. Głównie za odę do Steviego Wondera, bo to przyjemny kawałek, na który Wonder sobie zasłużył. Plus za zharmonizowanie tylu różnych głosów. Myślę, że równie często chwalę w swoich recenzjach mieszaninę stylów, nazywając to eklektyzmem, co ją ganię, nazywając chaosem. Wydaje mi się, że trudno osiągnąć balans w takiej konstrukcji albumu (plus trzeba być naprawdę dobrym muzykiem w wielu gatunkach) i tutaj wydaje mi się, że ta sztuka się nie udała. "Scorpio" mnie niesamowicie denerwowało, ten wczesne przejawy hip-hopu też mi nie siadły. Dodatkowy plus za pozytywny, lewicowo-chrześcijański przekaz, lubię to w czarnej muzyce tego okresu.

I struggled to find all the songs on this album, so I did the best I could with the Wikipedia tracklist. Starting off with She’s Fierce, such a fun track. I also loved Its Nasty. There were a lot of cool little bass moments in there, and the use of the kazoo made me laugh. All the different artists fit together well. In the Adventured of Grandmaster Flash on the wheels, the sampling of Another one bites the Dust was actually pretty well done. I hate to say this, as it’s an alright track, but the vocal effects on Scorpio gave me a headache. Now for the title track! I have the extended edition playing. This is honestly quite good so far. I quite like this guys flow. Message 2, which I believe was only on an extended edition, was also pretty good. New York New York, which I believe is another bonus track, was a bop. The lyrics were so good on this track. I really enjoyed all the songs I tracked down from this album. Overall, 6/10, 3.5 ⭐️. Enjoyed it, thought it was fun, but not something I will probably ever listen to again! 23/1089

misclicked listen and rate later

While the title track is a significant part of Hip-Hop's early development. the rest of this album doesn't hold up very well. The R & B ballads are painfully dull and entirely skippable. I'm also getting kinda sick of hearing "Genius of Love."

While I don't enjoy funk as much as I do other genres, I can see how this album has been so influential. "The Message" and "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash" are songs I immediately recognized for their hooks and I could also identify sounds that they sampled such as in "It's a Shame" and sounds they made that would become samples later in history like in "It's Nasty"

Despite the mediocre slower songs, this album has some bangers. Now should the last song count? It was apparently not on the original track list. Probably not, but the three singles buoy this album. Top tracks: "The Message," "It's Nasty," "She's Fresh," "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel"

--She's Fresh...oh hells yeah. fat ass bass makes me feel good. runs out of steam half way through --It's Nasty...hard to go wrong sampling "Genius of Love" --Scorpio...robot rock --It's a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove)...funky bass line. not much else --Dreamin'...cheesy af. I honestly can't tell whether or not this is a joke --You Are...also cheesy af. I guess it's not a joke --The Message...classic. Duke Bootee and Melle Mel announcing the era of the emcee --The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel (UK only release?)...hot stuff comin' through. this hits real nice

Pretty fun. it’s nasty and the message are good songs. I lost my mind at scorpio

Good peaks but pretty bad valleys

Ok, good bear n some I didn't know were originally from here

Pretty fun album, dreamin was really bad though Will I listen to again: 35%

#4/1001🇺🇸 Mixed feelings on this having only heard the title track before. The hip-hop / electro tunes are more interesting for me, but i'm not so keen on the 2 more soulful ones on side two. Its an important document of the evolution of music in the early 80s and deserves its place on this list, but doesnt feel like something i need to come back to again and again.

6.5/10

Of course I'd heard The Message before but none of the rest. This is a real mixed bag of styles. Some of it just sounds so dated and cheesy (and reminds me, weirdly of Ditch rap duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven - guess this was part of their influence). Definitely listenable and deserves credit for the last track.

Meh. Kinda samey but good vibes

Overflowing with the 80s hip hop vibe. Some songs were really fun and funky, some were not as enjoyable to me. Decent album all around

Can't deny the power of old school hip hop — whether it's She's Fresh, It's Nasty, or The Message, this record has definite highs. It's a Shame that there are listeners who will balk at the early 80s hip-hop turntablism and breakbeats from New York, New York. I don't care if some of this was purported "filler" to package a single as an album; so much of it rises above that lyrically and musically. And, sure, there are a couple dips when they stray from the party-vibe (but): You Are, Dreamin' if you don't think we're being sly as Scorpio up in this joint.

I can see how groundbreaking this might’ve been at the time, but I am unfortunately not unc enough to understand or appreciate that. The singing on some of the tracks is great and I enjoyed the more substantive messages on some of the songs. Good stuff.

funky

Side 1 is great. Side 2 is two very sappy filler songs and then one classic.

Today I learned that “Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge” is not originally from Happy Feet. Highlights: She’s Fresh, It’s Nasty, Dreamin’, The Message

Honestly enjoyed it more than I expected for hip-hop/rap in this era. It was good and has some things that seem to stand up today. I also like the softer songs in rap albums, which tend to be less popular. This had a couple of those.

I had never listened to this before today.

Some of this is excellent, other bits weren't as interesting, but over all good

Really cool old hiphop. You can clearly hear where they have influenced later musicians in hiphop and maybe even some in electronic music with the beats and synth use. A fun listen but not music that age well enough to be something I would listen to today.

A bit uneven but these guys get bonus points for being pioneers. 3.5

Good.

Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Melle Mel, Scorpio, and Rahiem changed the world. And while the album is more known for just a single song, it proved that Rap could be a legitimate music business.

Not one I would have expected to like, but I was having a good boogie along to this one.

It's not as great to listen to classic Hip-Hop when literally everyone else has sampled your tracks in every other genre...

Better than expected, too long. First two tracks and last two tracks are good

Lots of classics and a range of interesting stuff on here but I just don’t see myself wanting to listen to any of it again

Iconic title track and on the whole enjoyed it More than most 80s rap albums. Fo sho, the Stevie inspired songs arent great, but probably no worse than what Wonder was putting out himself in this decade.

The Message is an all timer but the rest is pretty meh

3.5 stars

Man, those dudes have range!

Funk, Hip-Hop

So old school I felt like I was a club in Brooklyn in 1979 about to breakdance on a piece of cardboard. I was impressed with the variety of ideas beyond the Message. Super fun. Look the music now sounds kinda simplistic compared to what modern hip hop produces. But still a fun time capsule.

Another album had to listen to on YouTube

There were some real fillery mushy ballads in the middle of this otherwise very solid album that really dragged it down.

never boring, never overstays its welcome, fresh and tight in a way modern hiphop seems to have largely abandoned

Pretty corny at times, but fun and funny in a good way.

I guess it’s more positive than gangster shit. Catchy in places, downright cringey in others

It's mainly just a lot of fucking around. Which we all know is important, but doesn't make for that good of a listen. Being a bit generous because of how great The Message is.

I think what makes album great is their timeless appeal. Although this album when it came out was groundbreaking and influential, it doesn’t work in the 21st century.

Ei taas ollu huono, mutta ei kyllä kummosta. Aika taustametelinä meni koko albumi. Ei jättänyt suurempaa jälkeä

Tää nyt menee näihin ensimmäisiin hipetihoppeihin ja menohan on sen mukasta. Mesitsi on ennestään tuttu veisu ja se on kyllä hyvä se. Sillai tässä nyt sitä suuntaa ylipäänsä varmaan haetaan itseilmasun osalta ja lopputulos on vähän sekava. Osan ajasta kovaa meininkii ja osan sitten aika "kiva juttu hei" -tasoo. Posin puolella kuitenkin ehottomasti ja yks biisi on viis kautta viis mutta sitten koko rieska se mitä kuuluu koko ajan antaa eli joo. Kiva kuulla hei koko albumi tätä menoo kun ei oo aiemmin saanut aikaseks.

Meh.

Can't deny the influence of this, but certainly sounds like a product of its time. Hip hop in the early 80s can't help but feel a bit cheesy now but this was certainly important, and the title track is one of the cornerstones of the genre. Some of the rest of it is kind of uneven though - some fun party jams (It's Nasty) but some utterly awful ballads (the Stevie Wonder song). Hard for me to go too high with this rating but still respect it a ton.

This is also an important album, even if it’s not my hip hop cup of tea. More disco-inflected than I was expecting, and also more fun than I expected. The Stevie Wonder song was cheesy, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the album overall.

Way way ahead of its time for 82, not as much rapping as I thought - kinda post disco soul

one of the first major rap bands. i enjoyed the first couple of songs but all in all it was only OK.

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