“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head
It’s like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under”
That famous chorus is from the landmark socially conscious tune “The Message” released in 1982 by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Before that time, rap music was known for its party vibes and braggadocio lyrics. “The Message” was an important shift.
The lyrics were a reflection of the harrowing realities of growing up poor and black in the ghetto. The tune concludes with a brief skit where the group is arrested for no reason, which sadly still resonates.
“You could smell the ‘hood in the song,” said Melvin Glover, aka Melle Mel, one of the emcees and lyricist on that tune.
Despite the song’s considerable legacy, there was some resistance to recording it and releasing it, which is why DJ Grandmaster Flash is not involved in the tune, and Melle Mel is the only Furious Five MC with any verses. The other verses were handled by Ed “Duke Bootee” Fletcher, who was a staff songwriter at Sugarhill Records, and one of the tracks composers.
Sugar Hill record founder and producer Slyvia Robinson pushed for the tune to be recorded. “It was reality,” she said. “At that time, everybody knew people living in the projects. When an artist writes a true story, that’s what works for everybody — because that’s what they can relate to.”
Also commenting on the new direction that hip-hop has taken since, Robinson stated: “When they saw how people reacted to ‘The Message,’ then people started writing records about reality, about real life.” Robinson said.
The tune influenced several socially conscious rappers, such as Public Enemy leader Chuck D, who declared “It was the first dominant rap group with the most dominant MC saying something that meant something.”
Chuck D may have also had “The Message” in mind when he famously said in the late ’80s that rap music was “the black CNN.” It was a new kind of street journalism.