The Message

This is good. Original hip hop with a soul and funk vibe. And real life story telling going on here. Not like todays gangster rap nonsense

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

I liked.. some of this

Ok again it's actually so close to a 5. The song about Stevie Wonder is hilarious and I'm actually obsessed with the robot voice box ballad. Very Kraftwerk.

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.

classic

A maior parte do álbum não tá disponível no meu país então... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Parece muito com o Fear of a Black Planet, só um pouco mais puxado pro Whodini. Legal, mas sofre dos mesmos problemas.

so fun :3

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”.

А я наверно расщедрюсь и поставлю 5. Меня прям раскачало и удивило, что звучит модно даже для 2024

Ait, kanskje litt masete

Nice

Gooood!

Refreshing kind of hip hop, just not sure I get how it’s supposed to be groundbreaking, maybe his earlier stuff is

Täähän on paljon väkevämpi kun muistin! Ihan helkkarin hyvä! 5/5

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.

I like that they love their mothers and I like the genius of love sample but overall found it cheesy and preachy.

https://youtu.be/SzFVYRrYNWQ?si=lNfehNIEVLL8H120

The most enjoyable musical history and political culture less than I’ve had in a long time. This album is like a full sample library for half of the hip-hop songs made before 2009. Usually I start listening to these albums on the walk with Milo every morning and I tell you yesterday I was strutting down the street like the opening scene to a Spike Lee joint, only missing a velvet suit, walking cane, and a very large hat with a very large feather in the brim. Smooth, baby.

Funky Fresh

4.5 Seminal Hip-Hop album. If this had not been recorded, music would be different today.

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

How often are we going to allow influence to carry the day? This album is embarrassing to listen to most of the time, the lyrics are the same level of the first year teacher who wants to teach his 8th grade students Algebra through the magic of hip-hop. If this album is indeed a foundational text in the genre, then what a shaky foundation it is. P.S. the group is called Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five but the album has seven guys on the cover? The f$%&?

Alright couple of songs but aint feeling it as whole

3.5 Just absolutely classic DJing and samples. A couple awful songs in the middle (wth is Dreamin?) but worth a listen for sure.

Legendary album. I can see why this album has been sampled to hell and back by everyone since.

This album is like the definition of short and sweet. Only 8 songs, but they’re all good, and the album exceeded my expectations. I thought it was just going to be a typical 80s Sugarhill Gang-esque hip-hip album, but there was so much more. The Message really brings a message to be heard to the world. I personally enjoy “You Are” and “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash” the most.

One monster, but also pretty high quality in some of the other tracks, given how early and formative this was

This was an enjoyable listen. When I was a youth I downloaded all the free music I could off of amazon and one of the songs was rappers delight so I have a soft spot for the sugar hill gang. This album feels like an extension of that project. The message is my favorite song and I also enjoyed the message II (survival) that comes out later. This album was danceable and catchy even if it is dragged at points by non hip hop songs that they must've added to fit with the pop music at the time. Fun album expertly crafted.

Classic~

I would love to know if the sample in “It’s Nasty” is the first known use of that in a hip hop song. I always associate with Mariah Carey but man is that everywhere. “Scorpio” is a good example of a song that does something cool but just overdoes it. The robo voice is cool but it ruins the whole song because it’s too present and too loud over the rest. The lyrical content and styles date the album but for the time period I imagine it was revolutionary. Still a good listen with solid work from all the rappers and producers involved.

Grandmaster Flash is one of those names that I know from being so important to hip hop, r&b, and electronic music; pioneering turntable techniques that allowed all of them to happen. Despite that I had never listened to his music. I find the 80's era hip hop charming and the samples recognizable and memorable. Scorpio was the only song that didn't land for me (too much disco?).

Highlights: The Message, Dreamin' Leave Em's: Scorpio Overall Thoughts: Funky & Groovy, this album incorporates lots of the sounds that are familiar to the eighties into an album that spans genres. The songs range from beat heavy with synths to slower rhythmic tracks that maintain fun and intrigue. The explored topics also vary widely from superficial tracks to political activism anthems. This record oozes fun and creativity which made it a compelling listen for me. Score Breakdown: 3.675 & 4 -> 3.84

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

Surprisingly OK

Grandmaster Flash is a weird inclusion here as he's definitely not an album artist. This feels like a "very infulencial, one very important track, so on it goes" pick.

Rating: 5/10 Mixed bag album. This album is great when it's funky, dance-y, and when there's rapping. The rapping and production during these three songs was great and a lot of fun to listen to. The other five songs are incredibly underwhelming, sounds like the group's attempt to appeal to a wider audience by incorporating more R&B elements, which sound very derivative and boring. Favorite songs: She's Fresh, It's Nasty, The Message. Worst songs: Scorpio, You Are.

The title track remains an all-time classic, speaking bluntly about crime and poverty in the inner city, but there’s plenty of other grooves to be enjoyed here too. Definitely more mellow in parts than I expected.

So fresh

Weak sauce. 2

Its fresh is a really cool opener, love the bass and the horns. Scorpio is plain irritating. The rest of the album is ahead of its time production wise, but the songs seem to never end.

Det känns inte som den nyaste funken direkt. Fag är väl inte helt 100 att använda idag. Det svänger helt klart men en hel skiva blir lite enformigt. The Message står ut som den bästa låten.

Shes fresh är nog lite bättre än the message, som är en klassiker. Men mer en gimmick än bra musik. Nåt som är roligt att sätta på tillsammans med andra. Inget man drar på i lurarna själv och lyssnar på. Fresh har mer den kvaliteten. Scorpio var mest jobbig med robotrösten Väldigt långa låtar överlag. De flesta har sisådär nivå. Kul att det är blandat dock. Men det nåt inte så högt. För många låtar som är meh.

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.

The Message saves this album

Wanders from hip hop through funk to soul. Good fun and variety

Sounded funky

Pioneers of rap. Some of this is really good and fun. Other stuff is unbearable.

Took me a while to find the album - it's a lot different to what I was expecting. More like Jazz funk in places (which I like) but ultimately this was very influential at the time.

I was blessed with another BANGER.

As I look back at all the past albums, I see that I usually choose 2 stars, I will continue my trend.

hadn't listed to before, immediately thought of early RHCP albums, which turns out were heavily influenced by Grandmaster Flash.

Classic. Feel-Good. Almost like listening to a Chuck Berry.

Too hokey. Couldn't finish it

What can I say, another bajan dub 🇧🇧. This was fun and funky so groundbreaking for its time. I liked The Message and the medley at the end

Another difficult album to track down that I didn’t think was worth the effort. The title track was somewhat recognizable. The remaining 6 tracks sounded dated to me, with a cheesy 80’s hiphop feel.

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.

Cool

Awesome 80’s funk/rap

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. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Повторю сентимент в общем-то всех на этой земле: тайтл трек - великая музыка. В целом в начале есть неплохи вещи, но всё это звучит старо и иногда (Scorpio) прямо ну не очень. Уважаю, но не очень нравится. Обложка суперская тем не менее. Лучшая песня - The Message.

What an interesting listen! I expected a rap party album, and at the start, that's what I got. It was fun, cool samples, packed with energy. But then, there was a bizarre, quasi-electronic song. Wow, neat! And then, a lower-key track about dreaming about Stevie Wonder. Okay, cool! The next song, a full-on piano ballad. Alright! I mean, it was all done well -- these are some talented fellas with wide-ranging influences. It just surprised me, is all. A really neat snapshot of the early days of hip-hop, as the genre was still trying to figure out what it was and could be. Lyrically, much more interesting than much of what's being pumped out these days, and musically, it felt like it took some risks -- at least by today's standards. Glad I tracked this one down.

Enjoyable album with probably the most important rap song of all time I. The Message. On another note, I don't know why Spotify gives this album as released in 2010 and has not record of it being released in the 80s. Spotify sucks .

It was hard to find this one - not on Spotify or Apple Music... I found a playlist on YouTube. Scorpion was a neat track that kind of reminded me of mid-career Daft Punk but was WAY too long haha I had to skip proto-Backstreet Boys 'You Are' - couldn't handle it The rest of the record was ok. Fun and interesting for sure.

i was really not a fan, i had a bad time

didn't care for it

last 2 songs were decent but nahhhh

April 11, 2024: having trouble accessing this album, put on Avalon by Roxy Music, also from 1982 so it’s basically the same thing :| April 15, 2024: well cobbling it together on YouTube is better than nothing The Message has a little something for everyone. Gospel, electro, quiet storm. It might suffer from Big Single Syndrome (a phrase I definitely didn't just make up), with more filler than killer, but it has pretty much all the raw ingredients that made up hip-hop in the 90s and beyond. The slow jams "You Are" and "Dreamin'" are neat but have almost nothing in common with "The Message" & why that's so acclaimed to this day. HL: title track, "She's Fresh", "It's Nasty" HL (of Avalon): “More Than This”, “Take a Chance With Me”, title track

- The influence on future hip-hop and rap is undoubted and there are moments of sheer brilliance here. There are, unfortunately, also very dated moments of mediocrity. - First two tracks ("She's Fresh" and "It's Nasty") are full-on 5/5 bangers. Make you wnat to party. - The opening guitar groove of "(It's a Shame") is pure delight. Instantly transports you to some island paradise. The call-and-response is also good, but then it loses me in the verses. - "The Message" is obviously not only good, it is unbelievably impactful, too. Hard to imagine something this developed emerging in 1982. - I am not a fan of "Scorpio." And "You Are" seemed so sweet. And then Jesus arrived. Woof.

Old 80s rap

fresh

2.5 Credit where credit is due, the message changed music/hip hop for ever. But the rest of the album is scattered to say the least

Let's say it's a good 3 stars

4-

A funky flashy soulful listen that was furiously fun and enjoyable. Early hip hop, that is an extension of influences from Stevie Wonder, disco and the funk beats of the 70's. Not something I would normally listen to, but it was a fine way to groove on a sunny spring afternoon.

The roots of hip-hop go back farther than a lot of people think. I think it’s just because the sound of the 80s feels nothing like the modern forms of commercial rap people have gotten used to. And the only experience I’ve had with these roots was not positive. So I went into this album cautiously, but I also had more faith that this would be better in many ways. And I was right. This album is actually kind of awesome. This is the sort of music that deserves to be labeled as the origins of hip-hop music. The way it fuses funk with those early sounds is great. I mean, this was back when they still didn’t swear in their music. Times were very different. This album is also very catchy, and if you are at all aware of popular hits in today’s world, you’ve definitely heard It’s Nasty and The Message sampled in big hits before. But honestly they sound way better in their original form here. The musical diversity here is a lot more than I expected. Since I can only assume this was all recorded live, it sounds really good, and there is some serious talent working behind the scenes here. Plus I can respect how this experiments with some more quirky and fun ideas. Dreamin' is basically just a song fully dedicated to Stevie Wonder. And as a tribute to him, it does a surprisingly good job at sounding like something Stevie might have made, with some more 80s flare. You Are is the complete opposite. It’s almost entirely just piano and the singer, and repeats most of the same lines over and over again. But it shocked me with how beautiful it was. This should be regarded as a much better beginning to hip-hop than any Afrika Bambaataa record, simply because it’s much better. Rating: 8/10

The Message Instrumental is the highlight. Not really my favorite sound, but a funky 80s album. Can't say I didn't enjoy it once

Wow, this album seriously blew me away. It's so cool, so many different pieces and genres and sounds that come together just perfectly.

Right out of the 70s, not necessarily in a positive way. Extremely repetitive lyrics, extremely repetitive lyrics.

i know this is a really important album in the history of hip hop, but oh my god this album is so corny and bizarre! i kind of love it a lot for how corny it is, but it's a little hard to take it seriously. especially the excessively saccharine "dreamin'" which is a tribute to stevie wonder (maybe it's ironic? i don't think so... but they're singing about being in love with stevie wonder like they are... actually... in love...). and the strange 'you are' which is a love ballad... to Jesus? I think? this album is confusing. 'the message' is an all-timer and the album opener is a surprisingly cool funk number, but the rest of this album is a little bizarre. not sure how to feel, all things considered. it's quite the eclectic album, and i honestly think that is to its detriment. an unquestionably important album, but a great album? not really.

I really enjoyed this, but why are all the songs so long? I just want a normal 3.30-4.30 version of some of these songs.

Some good funk and early hip hop! Love the samples and the overall vibe on this one! Standout Tracks: It's Nasty, The Message, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel

Very historically significant album. Early hip-hop. This was way more soul based than I would’ve thought. Really cool sampling and really funky bass lines. Very influential. Had to give it an extra star based on “The Message” alone.

There was like three songs that I had no idea came from this album. Some of these samples are still being used today. Unreal.

Funkyyyy. Live the song about Stevie Wonder, that guy is being admired his ass off.

My big takeaways from this: • Leather pants need to make a comeback in hip-hop • It's absolutely insane that "Genius of Love" was basically getting sampled as soon as it came out • "Scorpio" is a stone cold heater • "Dreamin" is absolutely a deranged piece of music • Did a spit take when "You Are" came on

The middle 5 are rough. What's the deal with Dreamin'?

Groovy

Starts off better than I expected, the rest is a little disappointing. Old school rap music, still with a lot of disco and soul influences. Some songs are sung instead of rapped, but the singing is not that good. The importance of this record is mainly that it was the first big rap record. It was original, but it's been done a lot better since. Favorite song: she's fresh.

That wasn't bad! There were some songs I didn't care for, but over all it was a good listen.

Good

It’s like the other early rap: good beats. Terrible spoken/singsongy lyrics.

This is aged, but still had some good jams. I like the vibe throughout but you can tell it's 80's. It's Nasty and The Message are definitely head-boppers though.

No comment

The Message is a mad melting pot of different sounds, influences, themes and styles that it's hard to really evaluate it as a cohesive piece of work, so for me it's about what I enjoyed and what I didn't enjoy. I have to constantly remind myself that this was 1982 and so songs littered with sound effects I'd find on my Casio keyboard in the 90s and hammer childishly (MORE COWBELL!) were probably revolutionary back then, and you get tracks like Scorpio go mad on it. How you can then change pace to Dreamin' and You Are entirely two tracks later I dunno, but they're both at least interesting listens. Fuck knows really, I'll probably give it a safe 3.

This was nice - definitely groundbreaking in some ways, not many hiphop albums around in 1982, but cheesy and corny in others. The Stevie Wonder tribute act is painfully saccharine, that and You Are are probably the two weakest tracks on the album (and the least hiphoppy), but the rest is decent without the jarring awkwardness you get when you listen to some of the stuff that came along 5-10 years later. 3/5.

cheesy 80s rap but slaps

Did not expect to see funky hip-hop on this list

I couldn't make it through the off-key tribute to stevie wonder, but the rest is fun. Seem like some fun dudes. You can hear who's pulling their weight.

5.5/10 Highlights: The Message Scorpio It's Nasty

I think that I bought the album back then. The title track is legendary, there is nothing more to say about that. The rest is quite ok, but doesn't come close to the geniality of "The Message".

Sounded Very 80's, huge emphasis on every beat. Did not mind the flow.

It feels like an important album in the history of hip hop but personally I don’t see myself coming back to it. Other than The Message, which is a classic. The rest was a bit slow and unremarkable.

pretty funny sound effects to hear now but cool record for the times.

A legendary DJ - The Message is one of the best hip hop songs of all time.

Funkier than I expected.

3.5

Funky and kind of silly but enjoyable none-the-less. I like how weird they get on some of the more electronic songs. Hahahaha the Stevie Wonder love song!!!! I enjoyed a lot of the bass lines on this album. This made me realize that Hamilton's Cabinet Battle #1 is totally paying homage to the song The Message. "It's like a jungle sometimes it makes.me wonder how I keep from going under"

Love this record. I've listened to The Message and a few other songs, but never the whole way through. What really stood out to me was how varied the sound is between songs. Some of the songs on this record feel very experimental. Especially, Scorpio or It's Nasty. Scorpio sounds like early Daft Punk, then later Kanye West, which is pretty rad to see that influence. She's Fresh and It's Nasty feel like they're building on Parliament or Funkadelic, but almost feel kind of punk rock. It reminds me of Red Hot Chili Peppers or Bad Bains. And then what about the Stevie Wonder love song?? Dreamin'. WTF is that? Fantastic is what it is. You Are is 100% ripped off by Chance the Rapper, but it totally works when he does it too. The Message is homaged in Hamilton. This record really is the blue print to so much rap and pop music. I think more than anything though, what stands out to me is the political and social elements of the song writing It's a Shame and The Message are sadly just as relevant today as they were in the early 80s, when this record came out. I think that's the biggest legacy of this record. Saying things the way that they are.

Definitely dated, but still solid early hip-hop and electro. A fantastic way to kill 37 minutes.

This album is an 80s hip hop classic. I was already pretty familiar with The Message, but thought that Mariah Carey sampled Tom Tom Club. It turns out that both sampled the song It's Nasty. Wow. I definitely learned something today. 4 stars.

Definitely a great remedy for a blah day. You always hear that this album is what kicked off hip hop and rap music, but I'd never taken the time to sit down and listen to it. It's great.

I like the sound of early rap. The creative rhymes, the beats and samples and all. They’re having fun and not taking themselves too seriously. I can imagine roller skating at the rink listening to this. But my god some of these lyrics are soooooo dorky. There’s such a sincerity and earnestness but it just comes across dorky now.

Could only find the single. Intrigued by the lyrics.

Everyone should listen to this at least once in their lives. Fantastic.

no.

not really my style

Even though every song is way too long and more than a little corny, the album is still a fun time. Except for "Dreamin" and "You Are" which are perpetual skips.

Digging deep into the roots of hip-hop now. Opens on a pop-funk number called She's Fresh which features some of the meatiest slapped bass I've heard in a minute. Vocals and brightness sound a hell of a lot like some of Bruno Mars' more popular songs of recent-ish years. Uptown Funk comes directly to mind. Immediately recognize the instrumental on It's Nasty. Really top-notch production at work here -- love the layers at work. Completely caught off guard by the deep electronic beat on Scorpio. This had to have felt like the future at the time -- honestly, if this was released today it would still sound like the future. Vocoder rap track is just about indecipherable, but I don't really care. What strange sequencing to go from that into the beach-guitar intro of It's a Shame. The instrumental alone is pretty sick, but the lyrics here are... rough. Dreamin' is an equally awkward dedication to Stevie Wonder. Earnestly sung over some of the finest pure 80s cheese. You Are keeps the slump alive with an earnest love song. I'm not saying its a bad song, just not something I particularly enjoy. I don't think he's really got the pipes to pull it off. Buuuut, it backs up to the title track, which is one of hip-hops all time staples. And for good reason. The beat is infectious; punchy drum with a catchy echo'd synth line and skittering percussion. On top of that, the lyrics are equal parts vivid and buttery. I can certainly see why this album is on the list, and give credit to Grandmaster Flash for his work assembling instrumentals; that is certainly where this album shines. That said, I found more miss than hit here -- the stretch from It's a Shame through You Are are all meh at best. Scorpio is the standout in my mind -- way ahead of its time and something that I honestly have never heard done quite this way before. The Message also carries its own weight and has had a long legacy in hip hop. Would not listen outside a few select tracks, but they are good enough to push this to a 3 / 5 in my mind.

Solid album. Good rap and super funky. Last song was basically a DJ track but impressive it came out in 82'. I liked the Message a lot. Soft 4 for this album for me

First couple songs were good, including the beginning of Scorpio. Unfortunately Scorpio went on too long. I think I wanted to like this one more. Couple of hits that are good, the rest of the album is fine too. Didn't really do much for me.

This album has so much going on with the crazy instruments and many different singers. I could really get down with the funk/electronic combo though. It was some hot fire through the first 4 songs but then really slowed down. But ending on The Message, which I knew but did not know it was on this, was awesome. Got some nice old fashioned hip-hop which is what I was expecting the majority of this album to be. That Stevie Wonder glazing song was a bit strange, but it did slap some nasty bass. I feel like this is exactly where Vulfpeck got their motivation to be a band because I could see them doing every single one of these songs.

This must've been pretty impressive at the time it came out. Scorpio reminds me of some Kraftwerk that we've listened to on here which I did not expect at all. Personally I'd be pretty pissed if I was Stevie Wonder. That shit sucked. The Message is an epic on that has lived on through the decades since its release. You still here samples from it in songs to this day. Overall its a solid listen but nothing that bends my ear too much. Solid 3. Review for In The Wee Small Hours: Classic Frank. I was between a 3 or 4 here but I guess it was predetermined for me.

The classic album that started it all Honest moment, I like hip hop and never listed to this album. Glad this website exists Times have changed, but it was cool going back and listening. I miss scratching records!

think we'll ever meet Stevie?

Great album, the energy in the opening tracks is infectious and the lyrics in "The Message" are moving.

Gotta give props to the Grandmaster for creating the genre of hip hop as we know it today through his sound manipulation of cutting and scratching vinyl. I also appreciate that the topics are of higher social consciousness and actually hold important messaging unlike most modern popular hip hop.

Style yes substance no

Not for me.. for me this album has 2 good songs and the rest is weird.

Solid early 80's rap album. I wonder if they could remix these albums without the cheesy electronic drum sounds.

Hip-Hop ground zero. I hear roots of Electro, RnB, Gangsta, Conscious. Scorpio - wicked electro track. One note and a drum machine - that's the way to do it. The Message. Had it on a vinyl compilation called Rap It Up. Formative classic. Lots of feels for this track. Survival Great track.

Groovy! I know the song “The Message” and “White Lines” of course but it never occurred to me to listen to a whole album of Grandmaster Flash before. Great stuff!

I liked this more than I thought it would. Would have liked to have had this in my ears in 82... Or would I?

A great history lesson from the grandmaster.

Terrible Stevie Wonder tribute followed up by an even worse thing after it. Might have been a 5 if those for those.

Legendary and funky. You can't deny its significance on contemporary grooves.

Pretty fly. I kept from going under, anyway.

Very classic disco into hiphop!

3 stars, good vibes

"The Message" has aged well. Just an all-time classic beat and the hook, "Don't push me cuz I'm close to the edge/I'm trying not to lose my head" is as relevant in 2023 as it was during the Reagan 80s. But the rest of this album, outside of some decent break beats, is a bad early-80s nostalgia trip.

Everybody knows The Message. The first massively popular rap song to blast out of speakers across the United States. I didn't remember that It's Nasty is on this album, with the very recognizable sample that you'll also hear on hits like Mariah Carey's Fantasy. That being said, the slow jams - Dreamin' and You Are - feel a little out of place on this record and feel like a misstep in the pacing and sequencing of the album. It's a good thing they wrap up strongly with The Message and The Adventures of Grandmaster Flast on the Wheel of Steel. The last track is particularly emblematic of hip-hop, and while it doesn't perfectly capture the energy of a block party, it's a decent representation of how DJs, sampling, and turntablism changed the musical experience forever.

Some recognizable stuff but not sure the album holds up over time.

Good but dated

Some of the songs I'll never listen to again, but they're all interesting. The only one I disliked was Scorpio. Started out really strong on the first track, lots of dynamics that early influential hip hop doesn't always have. The title track used to sound really really dated to me, both in the backing and in the lyrical flow, and now it doesn't so much. I don't know what that means. This one's a big deal for 1982 and I have some qualms about not rounding up to 4. music: appreciated. (⌐■_■)

I had only heard the single before. It’s the best song on here, but it’s also cool to hear the rest. Seems kinda foundational to a lot of stuff to come not too long after?

Not my vibe

Iconic and wildly inconsistent. Great tracks with samples and rhymes that will live on forever as primordial hip-hop. Then there are songs about dreaming about Stevie Wonder...

Only listened to the first track. Will listen to the rest over the weekend.

hell yes

There's some decent sampling on this record and I know it's one of the first hip-hop albums, but it's hard to ignore how corny and wack these rhymes are.

Paar vette nummers, paar saaie, en veel vernieuwende. Ongelofelijk dat dit uit 1982 komt.

Definitive album

Absolute classic genre defining and pioneering album by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. The Message is one to listen to if you are remotely interested in the history of music or hip hop. A view into the life of black street life giving an open window into their lives that often wasn't seen previously, considering they were mainly releasing mix tapes as opposed to full albums. Best: The Message Worst: Dreamin' 3.5 Stars

This music is lively and fun for a song or two, but after that it becomes grating. They were having fun playing with new technology and with random sounds, it is just too cacophonous

Schon wieder hipHop! Das übliche Gestotter eben. Aber echt gut produziert. Trotzdem: Ich kann sowas nicht am Stück hören! (2/5)

Thought I knew what I was going to get here: The Message, and more like it. Nope! This album is actually a bit crazy. It starts with a fairly typical disco-funk song that could have been by Breakwater or Cameo, which surprised me straight off, I was expecting tag-team rapping over 808s and scratching. Straight into the uber-sampled "It's Nasty" as in Tom-Tom Club and Mariah. Then next Scorpio which I don't think I've ever heard before but how not I have no idea as surely this is one of the most prescient things in electro, was totally not ready for that growling 303... so they even influenced Acid. Taking another turn "It's a shame" precedes De La Soul with it's sweet swinging guitar lick lifted from the Spinners song of the same name. OK the next rack can't be any more influential?... Err, no, it's not. Incomprehensibly the next tracks are overly silky gospel soul which sound madly out of place before we finally get to the message. Twelveteen out of ten for schizophrenia. Stupidly important and influential album, but also just mad and disjointed. That was an experience.

fun listen, good message across the board withsome classics sprinkled in.

Hip-Hop or the start of Rap? Or both? Either way, I wasn't keen.

C'était étonnamment bon.

no rap for me :-(

Great hip-hop. Enjoyed.

I've heard about this album in the history textbooks, but not sure I've heard it with my ears. It starts off a lot more funky than I expected with "She's Fresh" and that keeps on going into "It's Nasty" which features a sample I've definitely heard before--probably in several other places. A couple albums ago on the 1001 journey I had Ice Cube's the Predator, and I can't believe I had a thought that this album would be somewhat similar based on reputation. The Furious Five are so much more fun. The title track was a neat journey and kind of a surprise considering how much it is referenced later on. Overall I had a lot of fun with this album. Favorite track: "It's Nasty" 5/5

Well, I saw this was another Hip Hop album, and my expectation were really low. But it’s also from 1982, so maybe there’s hope. I’ve heard of grandmaster flash, but didn’t have any associations.Fortunately, my expectations were misplaced. The first song “She’s Fresh” really nails the funk, pegs the scale. “Its Nasty” rips off (sorry, samples) the riff from Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love”, but build it into a better song. “Scorpio” has a good groove, but I don’t dig the mechanical vocal effects…. Guess that was cutting edge in 1982 (yes I was there). I’m not a huge fan of “It’s a Shame”, more beat box and scratching standard 80’s rap, not much groove, but harmless. “Dreaming’” is an homage to Stevie Wonder, complete with a spoken dedication, and interlude. Frankly the “dreamin ‘bout you Stevie” stuff is kind of creepy. “You Are” continues in the same vein as Dreamin’, sort of standard soulful slow dance song, with lots of synth strings. Nice piano, though. There’s a spoken part that reveals the “You” is Jesus Christ, which comes off as discordant in the context of what sounds like a seduction song. “The Message” - oh yeah, I’ve heard this. A little too heavy on the programmed beat, and certainly more rap than funk. But it’s got some funky in there, and is an indication where the style can excel. Overall? Not bad. Several pretty good songs, and several that were ok. “Dreamin’” and “You Are” are almost jarringly out of place, and pretty forgettable. That said I can see why this was popular. very solid 3/5

Good sound.

This is completely insane and I can’t begin to know how to rate it

She's Fresh: 2/5 It's Nasty (Genius of Love): 2/5 Scorpio: 1/5 It's a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove): 2/5 Dreamin': 3/5 You Are: 4/5 The Message (Extended Version): 3/5 Message 2 (Survival): 2/5 New York, New York (12" Version): 3/5 The Adventures of Grandmaster Himself: 2/5 The Message (Instrumental): 2/5

Retrorap, Klassiker und Texte mit Inhalt.

Pre-90s hip-hop, pretty funky and good, though the extremely edited computerized song brings it down a bit. Stand-out: She's Fresh

Started out really strong, got a little weird, then finished pretty good but fresh was the real banger of a song

I love hip hop but not this

Only people who don't love their mothers could hate this. Classic old school hip hop that you'll think you heard elsewhere because most of it was eventually resampled.

Un très solide trois

c ca il a dit

Thoughts before listening: One of the earliest hip hop groups. I'm expecting lots of funk samples, dj scratches, and old school style rapping. Should be fun. Review: This is such old school hip hop that only 2 or 3 songs would qualify as the genre. The rest are basically 70s style funk/soul including a Stevie Wonder tribute. The rap songs are fun though, especially "The Message" which is iconic for its place in hip hop history. "Its Nasty" has a fun sample of "Genius of Love" by the Tom Tom Club and "Scorpio" is unique with the robotic effects on the vocals. This is 3-stars for the influence it played on what was soon to come with popular music.

This albums slaps. A top tier hip hop album. “You Are”, although a good song, felt really out of place. That’s the only thing keeping it from 5 stars. (4.5)

The Message was one of the first rap songs I ever heard, and it was definitely a contributing factor to me digging this new form of music back in the day! Flash is the DJ all others were measured against, and the Adventures of Flash may sound quite remedial today, but when it came out, was cutting edge (no pun intended)

Scorpio track giving me Daft Punk vibes. The second half the album felt much slower than the first few songs.

Good beats but thats about it

Seemed very repetitive to me. I did not care for it.

It started out great, it felt like if having fun was an album. But when it got to the tracks that I guess where supposed to convey "the message", it started getting a bit corny.

70's vibes - Sly and the Family Stone. Talented musicians. Dreamin is a great song. If I recall this was the first generation of rap when the language was somewhat civilized. I would love this guy to DJ an event for me.

Love the old school mixing and sound FX. Creatively ahead of their time.

insane number of iconic samples

The samples that have been taken from this album!!!

The grandmaster flash. A genius with the beats. So many popular songs came out if beats from this album. If flash was a modern producer he would be one of the best. Some of these songs are catchy and are good in their own. Others are simply good for the best. All in all it’s an impressive album and one that is fun to show people where other songs got their best from. 6.5/10

Disco groovy . Spoko do tańca

1. zhez frezh - 0 2. itz nazty - 1 3. zcorpio - 0 4. itz a zhame - 0 5. dreamin - 0 6. you are - 1 7. the mezzage - 2 8. zurvival - 1.5 9. neuu york neuu york - 0 10. the adventurez of grandmazter - 11.the mezzage -

In the archives of Hip-Hop history, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 1982 album, "The Message," occupies a pivotal position, representing a seminal moment in the genre's development. Despite its concise seven-track duration (the 2010 expanded version has 11 tracks, with an instrumental version of 'The Message'), the album defies expectations with its remarkable diversity in both musical arrangements and vocal delivery. The initial tracks, echoing the upbeat, disco-infused spirit of the '80s with heavy synths and voice modulations, set the stage for a transformative experience led by the iconic track, "The Message." Undoubtedly ranking among the top three most influential songs in Hip-Hop, this track shattered conventional perceptions of the genre, revealing its potential as a platform for political and social critique, a medium for living poetry, and a resonant voice for the marginalised. Diverging from the typical energetic tempo of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's repertoire, "The Message" embraces simplicity in instrumentation, providing a stark backdrop for Melle Mel's raw and unapologetic verses. In a succinct six minutes, Melle Mel vividly captures the nuances of urban life, tackling issues ranging from addiction and systemic challenges to sex work, a fractured education system, and racial profiling by law enforcement. The song's unfiltered honesty reverberated universally, demanding the attention of the public. Beyond its status as an instant classic, "The Message" served as a catalyst for the socially charged poetic genre that helped to characterise Contemporary Hip-Hop, laying the foundations for subsequent cultural luminaries such as N.W.A, Tupac, Outkast, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Kanye West and more. To truly grasp the roots of Hip-Hop and its transformative impact, revisiting "The Message" is not merely a suggestion for dedicated enthusiasts; it's an imperative exploration of where the genre originated.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it.

A really good one 👍

Iconic title track, plus a few very *weird* yet also very interesting deep cuts I had never listened to before ("Scorpio", plus "Message II" on the expanded edition). The admittedly cheesy "Dreamin'" and "You Are" places right before the album's centerpiece and closer--lounge soul ballads heavily inspired by Stevie Wonder--stick out like sore thumbs in the middle of the rap tracks. Yet they also prove Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five were not the one-trick pony everyone thought they were. "The Message" is an essential single for the history of early hip hop, of course. But is the album bearing the same name an "essential album"? The jury's still out on this one. Number of albums left to review: 323 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 302 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 167 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many other records are more important to me): 218

Starts and ends with cool hip hop, but the soul middle was unexpected. Great album.

epoch-making!!!

Best Song: It's Nasty Worst Song: You Are (God pls don't hate me thx🧎‍♂️) Lyrics so bad and corny that they're good: - "We'd like to send this one out all the way out to Stevie Wonder (Yeah, Stevie) After all, he's the greatest 🥹🥹🥹" - "IF YOU LOVE YOUR MOTHER JUMP, JUMP, JUMP, JUMP" - "Broken glass everywhere People pissing on the stage you know they just don't care" - "Neon King Kong standing on my back Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac" PS: These guys are some real Stevie Wonder simps but can you really blame them 🤷

This album is a great example of what I was signing up for with this project. I had a blast from start to finish.
 P.S. Oh, I love Stevie, too.

L'album qui a changé le rap

Totally fresh and massively underappreciated to someone brought up that drum machines were a total sell out!

Feels foundational and some of the beats I've heard sampled 1,000 times. For the time it is great but not the deepest album or sound.

It's a fun album, it's significant but far from great. A lot of inspiration for the future of hip hop here. The Message is an amazing track.

Some of this is REALLY good and obviously important to the genre. On the other hand some of this has not aged well and probably wasn't very good to begin with.

This is not a good album. It has soul and I’ll give it points for that, but it would appear that Mr. Flash and his five associates are all one trick ponies. It’s not even a very good trick. This genre that he’s performing, whatever you’d call it, doesn’t quite have the flow and witty lyricism to keep it interesting like later hip-hop would, but it also doesn’t have the groove and funk of earlier R&B. Which means that the whole thing feels disjointed and as if they don’t know what they’re going for. It has some range, but nothing to really latch on to. I do, however, enjoy the backing beats. Wish I could like this more. 2/5

Ikkje mitt nye favorittalbum

Fine old school rap music.

Old-school hip hop, Pop

This album is good, the mix of rap and soul elements is appealing and chill good listen

A lil too old fashioned for me but ya gotta respect their big hit

I bet in its era this was nigh unheard of. Today, there's a couple of standouts and a couple that just sorta take up space.

The Message is obviously brilliant and you’ll never go wrong with a Genius of Love sample but the rest is a bit flat Probably phenomenal at the time but sounds flat now

8/10

This is just so positive and fun and genuinely old-school-cool. Also always happy to hear some funky ass bass lines and brass solos.

This was great music to lightly doze to

HOLY SHIT. This is one of those albums where I can't understand how I haven't heard it before. This really is the spiritual successor to groups like Parliament/Funkadelic and you can hear them laying out the foundation of early hip hop. The bass lines are absolutely killer on this thing, even though a lot of the lyrics come off as a little goofy, everything just feels extremely cool. The samples they use are phenomenal (think some of them are from that Incredible Bongo Band album?) . Obvious standout here is The Message (this track is absolutely timeless), but there's not a single sleeper track.

Great commentary on the reality of inner city life for marginalized communities. Pretty dated sound, though. I respect the album for what it is but can't see myself returning to it.

The Message, the track, is good and very important to hip hop. The Message, the album, is largely forgettable and stuck in a weird Parliament wannabe phase (2.5/5)

She's Fresh, It's Nasty and Scorpio (especially Scorpio) are agreat time. Didn't love the R&B/slow-jam middle. THe Message everyone remembers, and sadly really nothin' has changed. This version finishes up with The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, very very cool, ya gotta hear it. Definitely agree that this is an album you have to hear before you die. Glad I didn't die before I heard it. 😬

Iconic and still making waves today. Unabashedly silly at times, but that only works in its favor.

Ah, Scorpio Show no shame Shake it, baby He is DJ Flash and he came here to give you a blast And we are the Furious Five and we're rocking, shocking all the way live Show no shame Shake it Shake it, baby Ah, show no shame Don't be shy, girl Show no shame Higher baby Higher now Great album. The Message is the main thing, but the rest is solid. 5/5

Motivational and inspirational. 4 stars.

I like a bit of rap to take me away, and this did the trick.

Dreaming of Stevie Wonder now too

Back when rap/hip hop was fun (before gangsta), plus bonus Stevie Wonder tribute. Great stuff!

I liked some songs, but I really didn't like others (Scorpio).

I typically really like 80s rap but this didnt really do it for me for some reason

Kinda funky, enjoyed some of it but other songs were very weird.

Respect to the pioneers of rap, but this is some of the corniest music I have ever heard

Hugely influential. There's no denying the impact this album had on hip hop and music in general. It's not perfect and some of it is dated, but the title track is an all time banger and remains relevant today.

10/10 one of my favorite hip hop albums

Nice hip hop/funk album Top tracks: The Message, The Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheel of Steel

Great

This might be the cheesiest album I've listened to for this project thus far. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this album. This is early 80s hip-hop in its purest form. This album is a bit repetitive at times, and some of the songs do go on for a bit too long. Fortunately, there's only 7 songs, so it is pretty short overall. Still, there is a nearly 6 minute long song about how much the group loves Stevie Wonder. I can't blame them, but I don't think the song needed to be that long. The title track, which also happens the be the album's closer, is an all-time classic. I wasn't sure if I had heard it before listening, but once it started, I recognized the beat, although it may have possibly been from another song that sampled it. Overall, a decently influential album that, while fun, doesn't really offer a whole much to stand out as an exceptional album. 3/5.

Charmingly dated, and a way more fun listen than I expected, having previously only heard a couple of the tracks. While it's mostly remembered for the couple of hip-hop tracks on here, most of the songs are decisively not hip-hop, but rather funk, rnb or even soul. While it's an influental, fun and goofy album, impossible to dislike, I'm not sure it's strong enough to be a proper classic that you would listen to regularaly. 2.6

No not hip hop… The first song gave me hope for The album, But already at the third song “Scorpio” I figured this album was not for me.

Acid Rock, funcky.

Iconic. Legendary. It really seemed like all of rap came from this album. How inventive and fresh sounding even still today. Just wow.

Fun, groovy, funky! Recognized a lot of the sounds from today’s music.

Mmmm The Message la influencia clave en el hip hop. Uff hay unos bajos de los que lo mismo aprendió mucho Flea. Me gustó Scorpio, It's a shame y por supuesto The Message (en mayúsculas).

I'm sure it was ground breaking in 1982... But it's cringey as fuck in 2023...

One of the first hip hop albums to actually deal with thought-provoking subject matter. Unfortunately, the album suffers from the outdated rapping style which sounds kinda fun on a couple of the tracks, but mostly falls flat.

It was okay. I heard where a lot of famous samples came from which was nice but other than that, I was bored with the album.

oh brother. the sampling is soooo sick. revolutionary to the genre. but jesus the lyrics are so cringeeee

Dated but still essential.

Didn’t listen, will listen now

this record is not on youtube music.

The song The Message is a classic. But I had no idea about the range on the rest of this album. It has classic hip hop club songs and also some soulful piano tracks too!

The message 1 , 2

A bop with some unexpected robot voice. Sad lyrics juxtaposed with a cheerful tune.

One of the last years you could spend half a verse of a hip hop song talking about how much you love your mother in the same song you do “shave and a haircut.”

Never heard it straight through before and I liked it. The rap heavy songs are excellent but I didn’t expect so much R&B…it was also good but unexpected, at least for me.

GOOD TIMES!

I enjoyed this album a lot. It had a lot of great energy, and it was fun to hear the original songs that are sampled and interpolated so often, like It’s Nasty and The Message. My least favorite was definitely The Scorpio, but it wasn’t offensively bad. Some of the vibe of this album seems outdated to the point of being campy, like the very simple and annunciated flows and the lyrics on It’s a Shame, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment. “There are places in our world / Where kids are starving (There are places where kids are starving, baby) / Don't you know they should not starve / 'Cause they're the future” was particularly funny to me. It was also funny that they were so horny for Stevie Wonder on Dreamin’. Overall it was a really good album though.

Yeah this shit bangs

A very good title song and an average album. Conscious lyrics, that somehow haven't get old, not even a bit, really impressive. Otherwise, nothing to see in here.

nice old HH, funk electro album. durée parfaite. 7.5/10

It's Nasty: that hook again! -- this is where I learned it came from the Tom Tom Club, Genius of Love. Very groovy, fun listening for the first couple tracks. Scorpio was weird. Then Dreamin'/You Are were like R&B ballads, took me by surprise. Feels disjointed. And then The Message has the hook sampled by that "girls is players too" song! Iconic. Overall maybe a 1.5 for me, 1*.

corny. fun.

They seem like a bunch of goofballs! I wonder what Stevie Wonder thought the first time he heard them singing about him in "Dreaming," haha. Then there some more serious, legitimately good stuff too, like "The Message". "Scorpio" is a funny one too, this robot instructing dance moves. Overall I find this album charming even if I'm wondering what they were thinking during several parts. And of course I must acknowledge its importance in the early development of hip hop.

I was expecting this to be a purely hip hop affair, but it's quite a rollercoaster ride, hopping genres all over the place - from funk to electro to r&b ballads to gospel, and yes of course, the primordial ooze from which hip hop evolved is here as well. The song "The Message" is practically a template for the hip hop that would come to dominate in its wake. It's the keystone of modern hip hop, upon which everything else was built. I actually found this album quite impressive in its versatility, and was entertained not knowing exactly what would come next.

The title track "The Message" is iconic and still sounds great, if the rest of the tracks were this good it could be 4-5 stars. But there's a lot of duds on here. for me, a bit all over. Still, important hip-hop album for sure.

Sixth grade me loved Scorpio and The Message, but somehow never heard the rest of the album. Surprisingly good stuff with cool Pfunk-inspired vocals, although the slow soul tunes don't belong on the record at all. Another cool surprise from this project!

"The Message" is the debut studio album by hip hop group Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Old school hip hop. Yep and I'd also say pop R&B. The album was produced by Jigsaw Productions and Sylvia Robinson on the Sugar Hill label. It is known for one of the earliest hip hop albums to have songs portraying black street life. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are the lead and backing vocalists/rappers/ singers on the songs which also included a full instrumental band. The album hit #53 on the US charts and #77 in the UK. "She's Fresh" opens things up. Synths, horns and guys yelling in the intro. A funky bass and guitar come in and we have a very 80's pop R&B song. I'm always a sucker for 80's video game sounding synths too. If you're a Tom Tom Club fan, you'll love "It's Nasty" which samples "Genius of Love" throughout. Multiple rappers which is also pretty much throughout this album. A robot voice introduces us to "Scorpio." That voice continues throughout. This is definitely groundbreaking. I immediately thought of Max Headroom. There is a pulsating beat and laser synths. This sounds futuristic even today. An electronic beat and echoing synth sounds begin "The Message." Grandmaster Melle Mel and Duke Bootee tell a story of inner city poverty where a child grows up in a world and life of crime which eventually ends up in his death. A classic. A song included on future reissues but not on the original and worth a mention is "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel." It's an important song in the world of DJ mixing and sampling. The samples include Blondie, Chic, Queen and the Sugarhill Gang. The album is worth it alone just for its two standout songs in "Scorpio" and "The Message." There a few other decent songs (the other ones I mentioned). The other three songs are pretty much average pop R&B. If you're interested in going back to early old-school hip hop, there are a few classics here.

Too groovy for my liking.

Pretty damn influential. Holds up. Great title track! Gotta do at least 3.5.

Didn’t age that well. Comes off kinda corny in 2023. This most surprising thing was that it was an R&B record with a few rap songs too. Can’t deny the cultural significance of the record though

This album was awesome. Several iconic moments that have been endlessly sampled, this group had a monumental influence on the hip-hop scene of the last 40+ years. 5/5

Last track is very cool

Oldschool hip-hop album with quite a lot of varied styles, most of the hip-hop songs were fun, but I didn't like the more soul-y ones or the electro 'Scorpio' track which was so different from the rest. Overall an OK album.

I could hear how influential this group was. I kept getting snippets of stuff that reminded me of other stuff. It kind of delved into religious bullshit at one point, so that's a negative, but it was generally okay and I can see why it's on the list.

Just a nice little groove of an album

Basically one good song and a load of shite

Tediously simplistic rhyming.

Birth of hip hop was essentially a stripped down soul album. Sounds dated but appreciate the influence. It also has a surprisingly diverse style that varies from track to track.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five were at the crossroads of funk, disco, and hip hop. Grandmaster Flash was a true innovator. Check out Wikipedia because he is credited as the inventor of the slipmat and techniques such as backspin, punch phrasing and scratching. This album was very cool to listen to as it was the birth of a whole new kind of music.

Ooh this album started funky and then it got to the pretty standard R&B love ballads which were fine. Nothing special and largely forgettable. Unfortunately that bumped the album down a bit for me. 3.5/5

Foundational but outdated, The Message still hits all these years later though.

Love a good Tom Tom Club sample. Not really what I expected, I liked the really high energy tracks but found the slower stuff like You Are harder to get through.

Love the message. I remember being 14 and flicking over to Wildstyle on Vice City every 5-10 minutes waiting for the message to come on (or be on next). Was looking forward to listening to the rest of the album but Jesus that was hard to get through. How can a song as groundbreaking as the message be pre-fixed by utter cross? Why was the message not on first, followed by similar politically conscious tracks, instead of terrible band intros, robotic autotuned samples, Steve ripoffs etc.. very disappointing. 1.5*

Few albums are as truly revolutionary as The Message, literally creating one of the most popular genres of all time. The title track is so iconic. It’s instantly recognizable and a huge part of pop culture. 7.2/10

Ei lävitse huono ja vekkuleita biittejä, niukasti kolmonen.

Pari tuttua ja muutenki päällisin puolin hauska ja letkee levy

Funky and soulful early 80s rap album. Very listenable and light years ahead of its time. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: The Message Date listened: 20/09/23

Hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa.

Acid Rock, funcky.

Album could be better but an extra star for being pioneering.

Some good stuff on here but the stevie wonder tribute just totally took me out of it.

Starts well then turns into a giant turd, only to be saved by the title track.

Really excellent hip hop album totally derailed by a song about god and a song about wanting to bum Stevie Wonder 👍🏾

Not so FRESH. Message nearly pulls it up to a 3 but would be generous. Pioneer at the time.

Sooo it was wn okay album little bit like the one from yesterday but all good

Hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa.

First listen Saved 3/8 Top track: The Message

Recognized two songs. Did not download any. Rap pioneers. Can only imagine the music they would have created if they came along 10-15 years later.

good

socially conscious lyrics. influential and essential album of early hip hop, particularly “the message”. an obvious choice for this list.

This really took a turn after the Stevie Wonder song. This was... Strange.