Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five began recording for Enjoy Records and released “Supperrappin’” in 1979. They later moved on to Sugarhill Records and were popular on the R&B charts with party songs and the like. In 1982 Mele Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matter, in particular the Reagan administrations economic (Reaganomics) and drug policies, and their effect on the black community. A song entitled “The Message” became an instant classic and one of the first glimmers of conscientious hip-hop. Mel recorded a rap over session musician Duke Bootee’s instrumental track “The Jungle”. Some of Mel’s lyrics on “The Message” were taken directly from “Supperrappin’”, a song he had recorded three years earlier. Although credited to the entire group, “The Message” was really a Mele Mel solo record. Neither Grandmaster Flash nor any of the members of the Furious Five performed on it. Mel would also go on to write songs about struggling life in New York City (“New York, New York”), and making it through life in general (“Survival (The Message 2)”). Grandmaster Flash split from the group after contract disputes between Mele Mel and their promoter Sylvia Robinson in regards to royalties for “The Message”. When Flash filed a lawsuit against Sugar Hill Records, their label, the factions of The Furious Five parted. Mel became known as “Grandmaster Mele Mel” and the leader of the Furious Five. The group went on to produce the anti-drug song “White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)” (the unofficial music video was directed by then unknown film student Spike Lee & starred an unknown Laurence Fishburne). Mel then gained higher success appearing in the movie Beat Street, with a powerful song based on the movie’s title. He also won a Grammy award performing a memorable rap on Chaka Khan’s smash hit song “I Feel for You” which introduced hip-hop to the mainstream R&B audience. Grandmaster Mele Mel & The Furious Five had further hits with “Step Off” & “Pump Me Up”. In 1985, Grandmaster Mele Mel released two singles, “King of the Streets” and “Vice”, the latter being released on the soundtrack to the TV show Miami Vice. In 1988, after an almost 4 year layoff, Mel and Flash reunited and released the album “On The Strength”, but with up and coming new school artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, and Big Daddy Kane dominating the hip-hop market, the album failed miserably. Mel performed with The King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew on “King Holiday” aimed at having Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday declared a national holiday. Mel also performed with Artists Against Apartheid on the anti-aphartheid song “Sun City” aimed at discouraging other artists from perfoming in South Africa until that government ended its policy of apartheid. Mel ended the decade by winning two more Grammy awards for his work on Quincy Jones “Back On The Block” album. In 1997, Mele Mel signed to Straight Game Records and released Right Now. This album featured Scorpio from the Furious Five, Rondo and the legendary Grandmaster Flash. The album barely sold at all in the USA and the UK even though it marked the return of one of hip hop’s greatest. This album took more of a harder rap style to show the world that Mele Mel could stay with the times. In 2001, he released the song “On Lock” with Rondo on the soundtrack of the movie Blazin under the name Die Hard. Die Hard released an album of the same name in 2002 on 7PRecords. On November 14, 2006, Mel released a children’s book “The Portal In The Park”, which comes with a bonus CD of his rapped narration. Also in 2006, Mele Mel attended professional wrestling school and in 2007, stated in an interview with allhiphop.com that “I’m going to try to take some of John Cena’s money and get with WWE and do my thing”. Mel released his first ever solo album, Muscles on January 30, 2007. The first single and music video is “M3 - The New Message”. On March 12, 2007, The Furious Five (joined by DJ Grandmaster Flash) became the first rap group ever inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. |
