Search - Grandmaster Flash & Furious Five, Melle Mel :: Message From Beat Street: Best of

The Quintessential 'Best Of' Collection

Alan Pounds | Minneapolis, MN | 06/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like many of you, I've only heard "The Message" prior to purchasing this incredible 'best of' collection. As you probably know, Grandmaster Flash and company were recording the most popular rap songs in the early 80s. Most of these songs are stunningly wild and fun party jams. But in 1982, they released "The Message", which is considered to be the first rap song to be pushed from a novelty party jam, to a chilling prophecy, featuring effective social commentary. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five built a rock solid bridge for Run-D.M.C. to step in, and push their "Message" even further, which eventually brought the hardcore edge to hip-hop. Whether you know it or now, their presence is still felt to this day, since hip-hop hasn't made that drastic of a leap since Run-D.M.C. (that's quite debatable). It also helped that the production was flawlessly perfect. It featured dub, electro, and R&B that was sure to hook nearly every listener of urban radio.



So if you're in the same boat as me, you're probably asking yourself, "Are their any other good songs from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five?". Well, the answer is yes. This is probably the best single disc best of collection you'll find from these guys. These are long infectious party jams. Many of which include the artillery of a large emcee battle, such as the epic Furious Five / Sugarhill Gang collaboration of "Showdown". A song I didn't think I'd like given the title, "The Birthday Party", actually turned out to be one of my favorites. Although, "It's Nasty (Genius of Love)" would have to be one of the most under-appreciated rap songs of all time. It's got one of the most clever attacks on the compilation, and will surely please any and all hip-hop lovers. They do tackle a bit more social commentary on tracks like "New York New York" and "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)". The latter features hard hitting lyrics about the dangers of drug use, and probably the most effective lyrics in it's time, given the subject matter. The only knock I have on the album is the first track, "Step Off Megamix". It's merely a "megamix" of their most popular songs thrown into one track (recorded in 1994). It would have been nicer if they would have thrown in a old-school jam up front, or at least put this track at the end, since the original versions shine much brighter throughout the remainder of the album.



Overall, if you're into old-school rap, this is a great listen. It's chalk-full of groundbreaking historical material. If you're at all interested in the evolution of rap, from the pre-Run-D.M.C. days, then you owe it to yourself to check this out. One could only be happier about the completeness of this collection."

Melle Mel is a Genuis!!!

jizzoe | Dorchester, MA United States | 08/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh my god! How could I have overlooked this group for so long? I mean, I'm a true, PURE hip-hop fan from back in the days and I grew up with most of the songs on this CD (the Message, White Lines, New York New York, and Beat Street) and since I have been about 10, I've known that Grandmaster Flash was one of the founding members of hip-hop. But only in my adulthood was I able to really listen and UNDERSTAND the lyrics these brothers spit. When people talk about classics in hip-hop and the great lyricists, they go back only as far as Rakim and KRS-One. But yo, look further, man. Melle Mel was the one who influenced Rakim and you can tell on songs like the Message and especially Beat Street. His words were truly poetry as well as hard and gritty. Even at the beginning of hip-hop, all of today's elements were there: complex lyrics, dazzling cadences, hard-core bang-ya-head-in beats, and real, street rhymes. Not the thug-posturing [stuff] we got today, but Mel, Cowboy, Scorpio...these cats examined in a very real way what it means to be poor and black in this country and didn't flinch from their observations. In that, they continue the great line of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Gill-Scott Heron and the like. Even if you're not politically concsious...even if you're a pure hip-hop head like myself, you'll enjoy these fly rhymes the same way you enjoy Rakim, Kook G. Rap, Brand Nubians, Nasty Nas and all the other classic ill rhyme-slayers. If you've heard these songs a million times when you were younger. Don't sleep. Listen to them again and hear what the brothers are saying. You might be pleasantly surpised like me. Peace!"

Old school rap at its best

Matthew | Seattle | 12/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5 were one of the original rap crews, and unlike some old school rap crews, these guys are still fun to listen to. They don't sound outdated at all and I bet you could slip in the track "Freedom" at a party, and before you know it, the floor would be crowded. They were also one of the first crews to rap about problems in the Ghetto, displayed on the all time classic "The Message" which has been sampled by just about every other rapper. It probably doesn't matter if you get this or their other greatest hits collection, I just got this because it was the only one they had at the store I went to. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen, I gaurentee you'll be nodding your head through out the whole CD."