The Message

As important as this album may have been for the history of hip hop in terms of shifting hip-hop towards social realism and commentary, I cannot say I enjoyed this album very much. To be fair I think this is just due to it being a product of its time. Although the production is stellar and I actually appreciate the minimalistic style, the performances from the rappers themselves in my opinion leave a lot to be desired. Awkward deliveries and stale lyricism is often carried by really nice chemistry of the group. I know for a fact without this we wouldn’t have people like Kendrick Lamar, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I enjoy it well enough for a bit, but the songs just get repetitive and drag on after a while.

É um álbum ok.

Ikkje mitt nye favorittalbum

Obviously important historically, and the title song is pretty impressive for its commentary and the foundation it lays for the genre. Still, it’s a very dated album. Some might describe the primitive techno song or the generic schmaltzy soul ballad as showing the album’s variety, but they added zilch for me. I wouldn’t listen to this again.

Worse than I thought it was going to be, but I had high-ish hopes.

Hip Hop, 52 eme album => 2/5 Plus funk et varié que les autres albums de ce type déjà écouté, même si certains morceaux paraissent long. Pour une fois je suis allé au bout.

Dit is zo'n invloedrijk album waar je anno 2026 eigenlijk helemaal niks mee kunt. Het is goed dat het er was, maar dit klinkt van geen kanten. Enorm gedateerd, kitcherig en bij gebrek aan een beter woord aardig 'corny'. Het is wel funky, dat zal m'n compagnon wel als dikke plus opgeven. The Message is wel een iconische track en als je GTA Vice City hebt gespeeld herken je hem waarschijnlijk wel. Maar verder krijg je op dit album anno 2026 heel weinig waar voor je geld. Van mij hoeft dit album dan ook niet in deze lijst. Ik hou het op een enigszins zure 2 sterren.

I mean the band that this album is coming from has me really hopeful. They sound like they’re gonna be super groovy. At only 8 songs taking up 45 minutes, this album kind of has to deliver. I’m not looking forward to every song being almost 5 minutes or longer. The way this is the only album from this artist is crazy. This band is not super popular? I’m confused why this album was on this list to be listened to. She’s Fresh - 3 Yesss funky horns. FRESH. I fear I’m going to get bored, it’s a lot of repetitive writing. I like the jazz bass and the horns are so fun but it’s a lot of yelling FRESH in different lines. Very jazzy with hip hop. It’s Nasty - 3.5 I think this one sounds the same as the last one? It’s got that bouncy hip-hop vibe with a similar style of ad-libs and callouts. I’m not sure what instrument I’m hearing like 2 minutes in, but I vibe. I also like how this one calls out a kind of hypocritical nature that Black artists face, where people thing the music they’re making is inherinently “nasty” but it’s not and people just need to listen to the fun vibe. I feel like this song has been sampled before cause some of it is sounding familiar. Scorpio - 1 Funky synth and voice modulation. It’s lasting way too long. Is the whole song going to sound like this? Their doing another “roll call” section, I stg there has been one in every single song. I did not enjoy that. There was no dynamic anywhere and the entire song was that modulated crap. It’s a Shame - 2 Already a step up from the last song. I don’t love this callout and response style of singing these guys do. Is this a commentary on social issues too? Dreamin’ - 2 Stevie Wonder love? This is prob my favorite one in terms of instrumentation and style so far because it’s in a easy listening vibe and it’s got a sweet message kind of. Okay the Stevie Wonder thing was cute, but now it seems kinda weird…”We believe anything that you see” is a strange line to me. I actually think I am dnf-ing this song. I get that they’re manifesting and showing adoration but it just feels like a super random yet specific song that I’m just not loving. You Are - 2 This song is the least streamed on the album. UGH I feel like I’m starting to become biased because I’ve not loved the last couple songs. But I’m boreddddd The Message - 7.5 maybe 8 Title track!! It better be good too cause this album has kind of not been. I’m not even that hopeful cause it’s freaking 7 full minutes long. I like the way he said “rrrats”. This one has flow I fuck with it. This song really hits home that if it’s not one thing its another and its just hard to LIVE bro. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I kind of think this song needs to be as long as it is to contribute to the narrative. This is the only song on the album that seemed to get any sort of traction I’m kind of confused why this album as a whole was suggested. Getting a little graphic with some added police violence at the end here but this song is by far the best part about this album. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel - 4.5 Hating the cuts. But the samples in this one go kinda crazy like the Queen riff? Lets go. Very interesting tempo. And you guessed it, another roll call section. Idk if this was intended but the DJ cutting sounds so disjointed on this track. Oh and the last 4 minutes of this track is going to be a instrumental DJ set. Ooh this sample traveled in between my ears though and I like when they do that. Ok I read about how this track was kind of foundational for DJs and producers now and how this track mixing all of these different songs (using 3 turntables I guess) from a live set was pretty revolutionary for the producer and sound mixing aspect of it all. So, after reading about it a little more, I respect it. Idk if I would ever listen to it again though.

Influential to the hiphop genre. Almost everybody’s heard ‘The Message’. I was surprised by the amount of funk and soul on here, I thought it was going to be an album full of dated rap music. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Fanger den der tidlige hip hop ånd ret godt hvor rap lissom bare er et af elementerne. Men synes det var temmelig blandet kvalitet.

This is certainly funky. There are some good songs and some not good songs

this was a very strange album, there was an entire song dedicated to stevie wonder, and i love his music too but they were infatuated with that man, the message was peak and was def my fav song on the album, i didn’t love this album and it was kinda weird at times, but overall it was pretty fun

Hip hop legal, porém 2 pq só tem quatro músicas no spotify, porém escutaria mais de boa...

Maybe I was expecting a seminal album here, and was set up forcefully disappointment , but this was one of the most underwhelming listens I’ve had in this entire experience so far. The rap sounds very dated, which I can excuse, but the Stevie Wonder style so B-sides are on the whole goddamn awful. Poor.

Well... I have enjoyed most of the 80s/early 90s NY hip hip I've listened to through this project but this was not one of them. It reminded me of some other music of that era that I don't think has aged very well and I can't tell if it is meant to be serious or a little tongue in cheek which I don't think is a good review.

Super dated. There's some fun elements here but did I enjoy it? I found myself skipping to the next song for the entire album.

it was so boring I forgot it was on.

Oli tässä paikoittain ihan yritystä, mutta ei se kuitenkaan ihan lähteny.

Ei nyt oikein lähe tämäkään. Kuuntelin ensin töissä vähän sivukorvalla, ja sitten vielä uudestaan kotona ajatuksella, mutta ei kyllä missään nimessä herännyt innostusta kuunnella kolmatta kertaa. Tosi junnaavaa ja itseään toistavaa huttua. Kai tää on joku suunnannäyttäjä ollut, mutta ehkä vähän liian funkkimeininkiä itselleni. Ei nyt sentään vituttanut, niinkuin Panteran kautta, niin mennään kahdella tähdellä.

Very cute

The best part of this was the piano work in You Are. I didn't love the breathy vocals and it just wasn't my type of music.

Not my cup of tea. But glad it was on the list and enjoyed listening to it (once). Jam on it

It was a fun listen.

The message is good. Usually when I like a rap song from this era it’s just because I like the sample, so not sure how much credit they should get. This kind of rap feels like it’s from 100 years ago.

I get that this was an important album for the formation of Hip Hop, but it's just not a great, polished album.

R&B, Rap, Dance, 1982 -> 2

Important album but I would never listen to it again. Some of the songs were just weird… was there a live ballad for Stevie Wonder?? Did a slow jam break down to a spoken religious sermon ? At times it sounds like two completely different albums mashed together! Some of it was good 2.5 stars !

Dated, but influential

J'ai décidé que j'allais catégoriser en 3 les types d'album pour me simplifier la tâche - album corvée - album découverte - album que je connais déjà Ceci est un album corvée

It's like they're trying out everything to find 'their' sound. After a bunch of hopeless failures they finally hit what they're looking for. 'The Message' is the starting point, everything before it is rubbish.

Here's another that might deserve better, especially given the date of release, but it's hopelessly dated in every way and I had a hard time getting through it. I appreciate the upbeat vibe and energy, but ultimately couldn't make it through to the end, so it falls short of a 3-star.

Meh

No

80s hip hop is so dated at this point that it becomes difficult to appreciate it when the real hip hop everyone points to was the next generation.

So outdated that it sounds silly at times

krene dosta dobro, prahistorični jo jo niga, zatim semplanje tom tom kluba, fora, i onda ode u kurac s pjevanim sranjima... zadnja pjesma opet dobra, ali prekasno... šteta

It's fine for what it is, but I wasn't in the mood for it. Really cheesy, even though the cheese can be fun. Grinds to a halt halfway through. The Message is the standout from this album, obviously. The rest was okay to listen to once, but no more.

Funky.

🗯 Important. Revolutionary. Cheesy as fuck. This is one of those albums you have to respect even if you don’t entirely enjoy the ride. It changed the course of hip-hop — the title track is a stone-cold classic, still one of the most important rap songs ever cut to wax. ‘Scorpio’ is my personal highlight: a polished chrome man-machine groove, maybe the greatest early electro track and hands-down the best vocodered robot-rap of all time. But let’s be real: the rest of the record hasn’t aged well. A lot of it is a slog, the samples work but the sheen feels brittle now. And those ballads? Good lord. ‘Dreamin’’ is a cringey tribute to Stevie Wonder that plays like a comedy sketch, and ‘You Are’ sounds like it was pulled straight from a Mr. Show parody. Painful. Still, the essentials are truly essential. The title track and ‘Scorpio’ alone justify this album’s place in history. Without them, hip-hop doesn’t evolve the same way. With them, you hear the DNA of everything that came after. Verdict: Essential (for history and two perfect tracks — but not exactly a pleasure listen) For fans of: Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, early electro-rap, robot voices with actual groove

Lowkey underwhelming.

Some songs 4.5, some 1. Average or less overall.

It's Nasty The Message The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel

Very accomplished and eclectic, but not for me. This definitely deserves to be on the list from a musical historical perspective!

Most famous for The Message, which sticks out like a sore thumb on this album, most of it a mix of slow jamz and electro 80s breakdancing tunes. They don't really work, I found myself eagerly awaiting the main song (it's Track 7, lemme save you the trouble). The second half picks up a little, but there's an Everest-like peak to this effort

Büro, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Etwas arg öde.

Very dated now

2/3

2/5

I love the album cover, it's like 1980s hip hop Village People. Tom Tom Club nailed it with Genius of Love. Scorpio is more like a techno track than hip hop, great beat though. Dreamin' is a little creepy. There's a difference between liking Stevie Wonder and fantasizing about him. Hip hop side, I like. R&B side, I do not. The Message is a seminal moment in hip hop, great song and a...well, you know. It also spawned another awesome song, Ice Cube and DAS EFX's Check Yo Self. I'm not sure which one I like best.

It’s a Shame I Didn’t Like This More.

Not my cup of tea, but I appreciate hearing all of the cuts that are sampled throughout hiphop still. Helps understand the timeline of the progression of hiphop. Lots of great instrumentals.

not for me

Old school rap. Should have stayed that way. Today’s rap sucks.

Solid 5 for the album cover…not really my thing. Influenced by The Temptations and The Commodores without the genius of those bands.

Spaltet - mit solchen Alben wurde der Synthesizer entweiht. Es steckt nur noch ein Hauch von Musik darin.

very old school boom bap rap. Little bit dated, little bit too homophobic for me. average rapping skills

Really tough to rate it. The message, she's fresh and it's nasty are awesome tracks and I love the vibe and what this record has done to popular music.. But there's a lot of poor music on this record to my modern ears and sensibilities. Maybe a rare case of a record that I don't think is good but might return to listen to.

The Message is of course a classic early Hip Hop track but the rest of songs here really don't come close to it at all.

not my cup of tea

Please don't evangelize to me in funk music

Boy, is this not my thing...

"Scorpio" sucks. "The Message" is ok. "The adventures of..." is someone who's just discovered how a dj turntable works. A lot of this is really dated though, and the album leans on good-natured silliness.

This was an incredibly weird album, the Stevie Wonder song was an interesting experience. The opening track and title track were my favorites, everything else felt a little too weird for me.

I'm Trying To Not Lose My Head Favs: She's Fresh It's Nasty The Message Least Fav: Scorpio

I guess I am not a fan of r&b

I expected so much more from this. Underwhelming disco-funk, for the most part. The Message is great, obviously, but nothing else on here comes close.

Some albums need to be appreciated within the context of their era, and this is clearly one of them. Truly great albums are timeless, requiring no historical lens to appreciate them. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of hip-hop history understands the significance of Grandmaster Flash and the title track. But let’s be hones.. this album sounds incredibly dated now. That said, given the purpose of this list, I think it’s an excellent choice for inclusion. Do I think most of the music holds up in 2025? Honestly, not really.

A point for sampling TomTom Club. And another for having impact on music.

not for me

2+ Stars (6/15)

The funkiness and rapping are welcome; the abuse of 80's electronic sounds in some songs, not so much. 5/10

Innovative for the time, but to early to be an enjoyable Hip Hop album.

The title song and a few others are pretty good, and Scorpio stands out as a really nice electro entry, but there's a lot of dread weight in the form of wanna be Stevie Wonder and vestigial disco. I think payed way down this could be a fantastic EP, but it's a lackluster album.

Hrmmm. I wanted to really like this. I really want to at least like it. Honestly, it's a hard listen. I love that they are pushing the envelope artistically, and for sure I love the decades of amazing music they helped inspire. But it was just too hard on the ears for more than two.

Crazy how fast hip hop and rap evolved that this already sounded dated by the time I first came across it around Run-DMC’s peak but the parts that still work are timeless and...largely are devoid of any contribution from the actual group. Can’t overlook the Pretty Hate Machine connection. Keepers: Scorpio, The Message, Wheels of Steel

I made it through about 5 songs on this one, was surprised to find I knew one. Turns out I enjoy the 21st hip-hop a little bit more than rap, this was at least listenable compared to the rap albums I've encountered so far. Will try to finish this one at the earliest opportunity.

It was okay. I was a little disappointed that there was only one serious song and the rest of the album was about parties and how awesome each of the members are.

Good enough groove and funk and then there's the HipHop part ruining it.

Ehhhhhh. Funk is just not for me I’m SORRY. Also my greatest moment of interest was when I spotted a Hamilton reference so that says it all.

Disco-Rap that sounds like the most 80s music ever I didn’t have a bad time listening, in fact I thought it was kinda funny. Title track was pretty decent at least

I liked "The Message" but didn't particularly find any of the other songs memorable

Definitely a classic but it’s not my type of music

This is not something I would listen to ever but I guess it's ok in a bland, boring sort of way. 2 stars or D+.

5/10 Not at all what I expected, which was a seminal early hip hop album. Instead it was a mostly heartfelt (Christian?) soul album that happened to have 2 or 3 classic monuments of rap. A major problem for me is that the title song, an epic about poverty and racism, is just straight-up homophobic. Don’t care if it “was of its time”, it doesn’t sit right with me. Best: It’s Nasty

Was looking forward to listening this, but was disappointed. Found it a bit child like. The message was the best track.

Definitely a trailblazing album and deserving of its place on this list. However, it isn't very good. Takes a weird turn in the middle too with some more ballad-esque songs. Regardless, this is the birth of hip hop and I'm glad the genre got better with time. 4.25/10 (2.125/5)

This album was fun and it was funky, both positives. But for a short album such as this, I expect/hope that the vast majority of songs are great. Sadly this album only had like 2 great songs and the second one was pseudo religious and that’s always a huge turnoff for me personally. So overall I thought the song that worked was great but if an album is being carried by ONE song, it has to be one of the greats, and sadly “it’s nasty” is good but not one of the greats.

Je sais très bien l'importance de cet album sur la scène musicale, particulièrement sur la scène hip-hop. Malheureusement plusieurs aspects de cet album ont très mal vieilli et ça donne quelque chose qui est un peu dur à passer au travers. Même The Message est un peu trop longue pour son bien. 5/10

The message is a good track but this album is so 80's corny hiphop that I can't get into it at all.

2.5 stars. Super influential but very inconsistent.

2.5

Some bits interesting but not a big fan

I enjoyed the funky beats in the first two tracks but the next four were tough to get through. The final track is obviously hugely influential and I love the beat but didn't enjoy the track as a whole as much as I thought I might.

I thought I would like this more than I did.

Meh

Not what i was expecting with the love ballads. Overall doesn't really hold up. 2.5 probably

Influential for a genre I dislike very much.

Robot voice song was good Check yourself before you wr- Oh, never mind Only saw the release date after the listen, had no idea it was so old. Doesn't change my rating, but it is impressive

…. no

Was already tired of it by the second track honestly. Maybe its just fatigue from having to listen to 2 disco adjacent albums back to back; but besides a few tracks here and there, something about the dated disco rap style here just didn't click for me.

Did not age well

Pioneers they may be... But some of this is really bad. Low 2.

This has to be up there for one of the corniest records ever made. And I mean that in both a good and bad way. On one hand, it's a fun and goofy album that slowly gets more serious and ends on a real high note. On the other hand, I feel like so much of the album feels dated and bloated. Definitely worth listening to the title track, but not much else worth staying for

Grandpa rap lol

Full respect for the classics, I really love The Message and Message 2 (Survival), but as an overall album experience, I wasn't feeling every song unfortunately

I liked.. some of this

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.

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

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$%&?

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.

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.

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.

Old 80s rap

fresh

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

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

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.

not really my style

Style yes substance no

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

"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.

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.

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

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

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

I love hip hop but not this

Good beats but thats about it

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

Old-school hip hop, Pop

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

Dreaming of Stevie Wonder now too

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

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

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.”

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*

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

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

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.

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

Scorpio and the Message are great, the rest is poor to mediocre. This is an important record, but I feel like they quite grasp what made them special.

I vet that it’s a classic hip hop record but I’m not a rap fan so this is hard to listen to.

Amazing where rap came from and what it has umm become…

Lost me at hesus

mmm it sounds good but not my style

Tried getting into it before, and while the titular song is pretty cool, the rest of the album just feels so gimicky to me, because of the sound effects.

A weird album due to its mixture of iconic old-school tracks and complete rubbish. Most of the album was like a collection of samples for other artists to make use of, then 'The Message' and 'The Adventures if Grandmaster Himself' are some of the most influential hip-hop songs ever.

That was different. It was interesting to see where hip hop evolved from but can't say it will be something i'm hankering to listen to again.

A monumental historic album, for sure, but I can't listen to it.

This album opens with an amazing funky banger with a bass so insanely good you just can't sit still. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a false promise for the album. Its Nasty is also still a decent song, but then comes Scorpio, one of the low points of this album. And it doesn't really get better after that. Side B starts dramatically awful with 2 ballads where the enamel jumps off your teeth. Everything hip-hop on this album is suddenly gone. Luckily we still have "The Message" as the last song. The famed HipHop hit on the record and most likely THE song Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five have ever released. That makes up for a very weak middle half of the album and a reason not to discard this album straight away.

Didn’t love that to be honest, not my jam.

I gather this is an influential album, but sorry, it doesn't do it for me.

Oh man. I get why this is on the list and understand rap was still in its infancy, but frankly this was preposterous.

ну хипппии-хопп чик кк к к пу пу пу ппупуп пу пупу у пп

Uggggghh

I'm going to have to process this.

This one starts very strong with the funky disco "She's Fresh" to ignite the party. Love the Tom Tom Club sample on the follow up "It's Nasty" as well. Unfortunately, the album's rating goes down a full star with the rather kitschy and tacky "Scorpio," hilariously out of place. Both "Dreamin'" and "You Are" are lyrically absurd, mediocre slow burners. The self-titled track holds up well...I guess, though I just wished it would end after "You Are." Reflecting on the whole, even though the runtime is nowhere near a marathon, it is inconsistent and not that impressive. My least favorite listen so far.

I’m a fan of old school hip-hop, just not this old school.

so much trouble for a pretty meh album

I get that this is probably very influential and everything but i just dont think this kinda stuff holds up nowadays

I guess I didn’t hate this. But I didn’t really like it.

A couple of good tracks on the album, The Message brings back good memories and the first few tracks were interesting to listen to as a change to the music I normally listen to. I lost interest about halfway through and turned it off; I don't think I'll be listening to it again.

It's interesting that early hip hop has aged so much worse than early metal. Especially considering this came out almost 15 years after Sabbath. But it's also pretty amazing how far hip hop came in the space of a few short years after this, with NWA and Ice-T in 86-87 pumping out what's effectively modern (enough) hip hop. But this just sounds so formative, it can't be taken seriously in 2022. The message is of course yes a great little tune but the rest? Half of it sounds like cheap funk, and the rapping is childish by today's standards. Meh, it's just too far gone in 2022. 2/5.

A little too funky for me

Прослушано! Не впечатлило.

One good song. Rest was boring.

Enjoyed the samples but ended up as previously, hunting those out. Mariah and monie love!

The maybe The Message tries to be a bit deeper than the rest, the lyrics are grade A dumb. There is some interesting musical inventiveness, but it is just completely overwhelmed by regrettable vocals and lyrics.

Lost my notes! The Message was great but the rest wasn't.

not my cup of tea

Using a live band with real instruments has always made any hip hop band infinitely better. It's just a shame about all the nasty syruppy ballad songs.

There are some terrible songs on here, though they can't defeat the title track.

I think a little dated. Obviously Message itself as a song is still amazing but the album is a little too soft and underwhelming.

Groovy and fun, but the Stevie Wonder tribute kind of killed this one for me.

Just okay. A little cheesy

Perhaps more significant than good.

It was okay. I enjoyed the music but didn’t care for the singer nor the lyrics.

Grandmaster Flash is one of hiphop greatest and has made fantastic singles. But this is a full album consisting of two of those songs and the rest is filler.

Not my kind of music

Wat klinkt dit gedateerd. Scorpio is daar een goed voorbeeld van..

Oef, dat klinkt allemaal niet zo soepeltjes meer of misschien heeft het wel nooit soepel geklonken.

Zal vast grondlegger van de hiphop zijn, maar klinkt echt hopeloos gedateerd

Het nummer The Message blijft geweldig. Maar de rest....mwah....en hoezo denken ze dat het een goed idee is om dan halverwege ineens een aantal Stevie Wonderachtige nummers op je plaat te zetten?

A somewhat decent funk LP that’s lacking in memorability. Not a lot of the key melodic rhythm and repetition from Flash’s other work that makes it so memorable

The album seems to be something revolutionary and fresh, however a lot of song were to boring and long, all of the songs have some bit of interesting, however the lenght of the songs make them less enjoyable. Only the first and fourth were the most interesting and valuable. Even if the quality was kinda low it seems to be a historically speaking, an important album

"The Message" (the single) is legendary. Why in the world did the listmaker include this entire record, with the cringeworthy "Dreamin'" and the embarrassing "You Are"?

I wanted to like this album. I tried so hard. It's such an important part of musical history. But it's kind of awful. It's cheesy AF. The lyrics are mostly vapid, the samples are mostly disco, and the delivery is as boring as it comes. I know this was put out in '82 but it has the indelible stench of '70s disco all over it. It's a cornerstone album because of the subsequent artists and albums it inspired, not because it's actually any good. Because it's not. No matter how badly I wanted it to be.

A few good songs Ion fuck with country tho

Bad album

Scorpio is a banger. Wish they would tell us the names of who’s in the furious five, I’m clueless. “Stevie, you make me wonder”…lol.

Heard it before?: No, although I have heard ‘The Message’. I just never knew the artist Enjoy it?: Not particularly, I can get that it was good for its time and there are some catchy beats and flows but they are dragged out far too much which makes it tediously long considering no song comes under the 4 minute mark Favourite song: Track 4 - It’s a Shame

Title track is a classic but the rest of the album sounds too dated for me

Fascinating and funky. Bit inconsistent though - I wasn’t a huge fan of the slower numbers.

Too much funk for me

Very corny for the most part but the the final two tracks, The Message and The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheel of Steel redeemed some stars. Will listen to these tracks again but probably nothing else from this album.

Like the more hiphop/rap songs. The song that sampled Tom Tom Club was my favorite, and the Message is always a classic. That being said, the rest of the album was largely disappointing and not worth noting. 2.5/5

interesting, i expected more rap - wasn't aware of their sound other than the Message

I really want to rate this higher because of how important it is to the genre... but most of it is dated and cheesy. The title track is worth a full-star bump on its own, but the rest is meh....

Not as good as I had hoped

Old skool hip hop!...feels like a album with a brilliant track and lots of obvious filler. (though Scorpio is interesting) I'm thinking that at this time rap "albums" were not really a thing. 12 inch extended mixes were where it was at. This strikes me as a cash in. 2

One classic song and a bunch of meh.

Wel oke, maar niet mijn genre

More slow soulful songs than expected. Not great. Best songs The message, new York new York,

Really not a fan, was hard to figure out what it was about.

Groundbreaking back then, felt very dated now

'The Message,' in a nutshell? Hard to be black in America. ‘Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge. I’m tryin’ not to lose my head… It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.’ Note that neither the lyricists nor lead vocalist Keef Cowboy are expressing anger, but caution: I’m really tryin’ here. And, as the final and title track clearly reveals, against the kinds of disadvantages that confront minorities when tryin’ to make the American creed of equal opportunity, including access, more of a practical reality. Before all that, though, we are introduced to the sole enterprise that seems to have prevailed where others have failed: sex. And on the very first track, we’re introduced to the sexual prowess of the players- and there’s quite a lot of them, vocalists and instrumentalists- before we then move on to a celebration of nasty sex on the second, followed by a bizzare robot vocal on the third cut, ‘Scorpio,’ in which we hear what phone sex (or at least foreplay) between two robots might sound like. Oddly, I could find no connection between the electronically effected voice and the lyrics, but there it is. And just when we’ve established this as a steamy, lusty, sex-themed funk LP, the next three songs take a decidedly different turn, musically and lyrically, concluding with a (literally) black gospel number, ‘You Are,’ with the ‘you’ being God, and everything being who You Are. Downtempo went the music and with it the vocals, taking a bit of downturn of their own, Keef never quite aspiring to the high notes he was hearing in this mind but abundantly sharing nonetheless. At least the background harmonies were a little sweeter on ‘Dreamin.’ I’m reminded of a hilarious episode of the NBC sit-com Seinfeld, in which ‘George’ (portrayed by Jason Alexander) unsuccessfully tries to combine his two favorite activities- sex and eating sandwiches. Musical artists certainly can and do bend and blend genres- country rock, jazz fusion, etc. But, can one album successfully offer the two side by side, unvarnished- especially such disparate ones as lusty funk and black church gospel- and still hold true? Only to end with 'The Message?' This, and average performances, all around make for just an ok time. There’s an argument to be made about this LP's inclusion into a time capsule. But I suppose the same could be said about a telegraph machine.

Not quite the groundbreaking album I was led to believe. Some of the Streetsounds compilations piss all over this. The Message itself is magnificent. But the rest is a little electro auto-pilot.

i knew the message and figured it would be a classic rap album. however, a big part of the album is more towards R&B. Some relgious themes too. The content is mostly social so thats cool and the early days dj techniques are also fun but it's a bit outdated besides its title track

Buiten de message, meh. 2.5

I really hope these fellas finally got to meet Stevie Wonder. Appreciated the sample of "It's A Shame" by The Spinners.

Good in NY with a big soundsystem and friends

Talk about schizophrenic. This album has a mix of classic early hip-hop tracks and terrible "smooth" R&B vocals that sound like something a 15 year old would think is romantic. The ballads are so bad they border on parody. Best Tracks: It's Nasty (Genius of Love); Scorpio; The Message

Очень посредственный альбом, есть пару нормальных треков и всё! 3/10

too many of the same sounding tracks, title track is really good tho

A lot of fun and I bet it sounded amazing and fresh at the time but doesn't do much for me now.

Was expecting a lot more from this considering how iconic and influential the title track is. Kinda boring album

word. imagine the scenario, you hear the track 'the message' and understandably you're blown away. its mega. so you're like surely the guys that wrote this must have a whole back cataolgue of this magic stuff. no way, there's an album named after that monster track. buy the record, put it on and spend the next half hour wondering how they came up with the message and why they couldn't create anything else half as good as it. its like buying a pack of fruit gums and there's only one red one in the pack. ordering a peperoni pizza and it just has one slice of peperoni on it. like turning on the telly to watch some football but only liverpool are playing.

Fresh

Not great, I liked the idea of funk and rap together, but it just didn't mesh into a very interesting album. If you've heard one track, you've heard them all.

Album ktory rownie dobrze moglby byc jednym kawalkiem, tytulowym the message, bo to jedna z tych wczesnych rapowych plyt, ktore chce wiele, a wychodzi jak to czesto w poczatkach gatunku, czyli pomieszanie z wylewem kreatywnosci tworcow, ktorych grupa liczyla sporo, bo sporo jest grania na instrumentach, no i kazdy musial miec swoja zwrote, albo chociaz probowal, bo rapowanie jest tutaj glownie na tytulowym traku, reszta to raczej funkowe brzmienia, no i abominacje pokroju scorpio, ktore brzmia jak bazarowa muzyka kogos kto dostal synthy i sprawdza jakie to ma funkcje, zwlaszcza te wokale przepuszczone przez miliard filtrow w celu uzyskania robociego giberiszu jest dnem dna plyty, czas dobrze pokazal czemu banda sie nazywala arcymistrz flesz i pieciu furiatow, influencyjne techniki tworzenia beatow i krojenia sampli pochodza od niego, drugim pozytywnie zaskakujacym punktem, nawet po tylu latach, bo plyta z roku 82 jest wystep drugiego arcymistrza, chodzi o Melle Mela, ktory razem z Duke Bootee, artysta znanym jedynie z zwrotki i hooka na the message, tworza podwaliny pod wspolczesne ukladnaie rymow na beaty, wiec o ile pierwsze 30 minut jest ciezkim odsluchem, tak ostatni trak ratuje krazek, dziwne ze na plejce go wczesniej nie mialem, albo inna wersja zagoscila, cieszy widok tak waznego albumu w historii czarnej muzyki, ale jednak nie zestarzal on sie zbyt dobrze, zbyt duzo elektronicznego funku, za malo jakosciowych zwrotek, stad ocena calosci mocne 2/5

Didn’t love it but understand it

Wasn't really a fan but fun to hear early versions of rap.

Excellent production/samples, but lyrics really showing their age

I'm not impressed by this. It is really just not good. Just sounds like bad 80s music that's trying to be funky.

“A singles-plus filler cash-in that proves a fascinating time capsule of rap's early attempts with the album format"

Revolutionary in its day - pretty dated listening now. Not their fault, really - this was the blueprint for so much that followed. The ballads are honking.

An album about God, Stevie Wonder and loving your Mother with some rap and groundbreaking production. Mostly the first three though. The Message is a standout, an absolute classic but can't elevate the album above a 2. Extremely dated.

2/5 way too experimental for my taste.

Undeniably influential for the single of The Message, and probably essential for break dancing and popping. However, overlong and samey. Nice to see them give tribute back to Tom Tom Club and Stylistics cover. Single 5*, album 2*

I hadn't listened to the album before. The title track is great. As an album as a whole, it felt all over the place, and dated. I couldn't tell if the mid-tracks like "Dreamin'" and "You Are" were taking the piss or not?

'The message' is a bop, but the rest of the album is pretty meh. I really don't like the techno style of scorpio especially

Not what I was expecting and feel kinda let down. Loads of shifts and didn't really get the album as a whole. Couple of decent tracks though

If you love your mother, if you love your mother, if you really really really really love your mother. Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump. The first song rules. The second song I think Mariah Carey + ODB improved upon the sample. Overall, this was fun, and I assume innovative for its time. Scorpio was some cool as hell robot business. I didn't care much for the more R&B ballads, but the raps were fun in an innocent way. Almost sounds like it's written for toddlers in today's context. C+

En realidad quería, esperaba, dar una excelente calificación aquí. Quería centrarme en hablar de la importancia y genio de Grandmaster Flash, de la manera en que literalmente inventó una forma de hacer música cuando el hip hop apenas estaba ya no en pañales, sino en etapas fetales. Tenía planeado hablar sobre como creo/descubrió la manera de mezclar correctamente en carrusel, sobre su creatividad, sobre su importancia histórica y sobre cómo revolucionó por completo la manera de hacer música moderna en ciertos aspectos y fue el origen de que se pueda considerar que una tornamesa puede ser un instrumento musical. Después seguirían los halagos sobre los Furious Five y cómo estaban entre los mejores raperos de esa época, hablaría de Melle Mel, Rahiem y Kidd Creole... y luego daría el bizarro dato de cómo Kidd Creole ahora está en la cárcel porque acuchillo (en repetidas ocasiones) y mató a un indigente en NY... en 2017... Podría después tocar sobre como The Message es una canción super importante no solo por el mensaje social y la importancia de unión en la comunidad que tuvo sino como realmente la pieza importante musicalmente del disco. Hablaría de cómo el disco todavía no se siente taaaanto como hip-hop en forma y todavía guarda mucha sensación de esos discos de "mezcla de fiesta" y cómo aun se oye mucho soul y funk crudos y trasplantados.... Y ahí empiezan los problemas. Por más que quiera, fuera de The Message el disco no ha envejecido con gracia. El resto de las canciones suenan hoy en día o demasiado blandas y sin chiste, con los breaks más simples de funk copiados y pegados sin tocar nada, o se siente como experimentos que no venían al caso y simplemente no funcionan (como hacer toda una canción con voz de robot - Kraftwerk no son) o simplemente se sienten como canciones sin brillo y que hoy en día hacen bola y paja. Sí, creo que es un disco que se DEBE conocer, por su importancia cultural o histórica; pero musicalmente, con la excepción de The Message, hasta ahí se queda, como una curiosidad para ser estudiada más que para ser disfrutado como música.

Rap de los 80s a todo lo que da. Me imagino que es un gran debut pero no dejo de imaginarme a Ross (Friends) tocando el teclado. Las baladas, más de R&B que rap fueron lo que más gusto de este disco. Quitando ciertas partes con buen funk en el bajo para romper la monotonía, el uso de las mismas secuencias se me hizo repetitivo en todo el disco. Songs: Dreamin'

Qué rara onda de hip hop del muy muy viejito pero con onda medio social, medio de queja. La verdad es que no empezó tan mal: los metales y la onda funk al inicio del primer track me gustaron; también la guitarra en It's a Shame. Pero en todas las canciones siento que pasa que de una gran intro (quizá hasta exagerada) pasan a algo repetitivo.

Old rap, its fine, I liked being able to hear the original samples of some more recent/popular songs. But same story with old rap, doesn't feel like it has much of a story to tell

fine. 2 stars its smooth but forgettable.

Terrible 80s hip-hop/rap

Not my thing

Yikes

I can understand The Message in 1001 Songs, but not this.

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

Наверное это мой ад

Pretty bland

😞👎🏻

nope

Has all the elements to be a great record, yet it ends up disappointing. Boring and lyrics often seem kind of naive. I guess the album is only worth it for the title track. Won't hear again.

More like Grandmaster trash.

I'm only on the first track.. uhhhhhh what is this The message is good tho

The Message er en anthem som har hatt en innflytelse på popmusikken som knapt kan overdrives. Likevel er det ikke til å komme unna at hip hop før Eric B. & Rakim egentlig var ganske dritt, og at vi må over på 90-tallet før det virkelig ble bra. Jeg er helt med på at The Message er med i lista 101 singler du må høre før du dør, men LPen er en historisk artefakt som bør granskes kun av hip hop archeologer. Fett albumcover, da.

not my vibe

Nope.

Not my idea of music

Musicalmente está bien. Las letras y las melodías son lamentables. Le dedican una canción a Stevie Wonder (?) con una letra propia de un niño de cinco años, incluyendo "creemos en todo lo que ves"...¿En serio? ¿Nadie pensó en lo inconveniente de ese verso? Es gente hablando rápido, pero al menos tiene algo de ritmo humano. No obstante, una mierda. Esto es una patraña.

Things have really moved on since

Fav songs: Scorpio; The Message As an album in the strict definition of a cohesive collection of songs telling a story or setting a mood, this fails utterly. I appreciate listening to an early attempt of hip hop to bring an album together. That said, it's hard to get passed the corny paeans to Stevie Wonder on "Dreaming" and Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on "You Are." There two great songs on here definitely worth listening to but rest of the album is unnecessary. There are better hip hop albums in the whole.

Not a fan of hip hop in general, this album was not an exception

No va

Rap, blechhh. 1/5

I couldn't listen to the whole album. Not the kind of music I enjoy.

never heard the full album before but it has not aged well I like the message and the other songs I've heard in gta but man this album was kinda harsh on the ears

I respect how influential this album, but I don't think it makes it good. There are some cool beats but it's whatever. I would never listen to this when later 80s and early 90s groups improved on it vastly. Giving this a 1 but I understand why it was on the list

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

didn't care for it

last 2 songs were decent but nahhhh

No comment

no.

Not my vibe

no rap for me :-(

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

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 -

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

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.

Didn’t listen, will listen now

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*.

Too groovy for my liking.

Basically one good song and a load of shite

Not sure what I expected

Nope

rubbish

I tried to get over the mumbling, screeching voice, and synths but I just couldn't. This was so boring. Definitely not my thing.

Four Songs in and I gave up, this isn't for me.

Gar nicht mein Ding.

2 ok this is hard, cause this really fucking sucks Yea this a 1 Oh thats the meme maybe not

Just noise...

Nã ouvi, pois não tem no deezer.

Je comprends que c'est un album important historiquement pour les début du rap mais sérieux ça vieilli pas full bien Il manquait beaucoup de tounes sur spoty mais j'en ai eu assez...

sample city. rent bajs, önska att jag kunde ratea 0

I like the funky parts, but those parts didn't outshine, or even complement, the rapping.