Melvin Glover , better known as Melle Mel and Grandmaster Melle Mel, is one of the pioneers of rap. The lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
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Catch Melle Mel with the FURIOUS FIVE at the KINGS OF THE MIC TOUR – BOOM BASH -JUNE 13th
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five began in 1979 and were popular on the R&B charts with party songs, like “Freedom” and “The Birthday Party”. They released numerous singles, gaining a gold disc for “Freedom,” and also toured. In 1982 Melle Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matters. A song entitled “The Message” became an instant classic and Mel was one of the first to introduce conscious hip-hop.
Mel became known as “Grandmaster Melle Mel” and the leader of the Furious Five. The group went onto produce the anti-drug song “White Lines ( Don’t do it)” which starred up-and-coming actor Laurence Fishburne and was directed by then unknown film student Spike Lee. The record was falsely credited to “Grandmaster + Melle Mel” by Sugarhill Records in order to fool the public into thinking Grandmaster Flash had participated on the record. Mel then gained higher success appearing in the movie Beat Street!
He became the first rap artist ever to win a Grammy award for “Record of the Year” after 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.
In more recent news Mel and Scorpio took legal action against Dj Grandmaster Flash. They went on record saying that the iconic Grandmaster Flash had absolutely nothing to do with the recordings that landed them all in the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. NOTHING. On top of that, they claim he “never thanked none of the furious5 for getting him into the rock&roll hall of fame.”
Check out the video for more details on the latest and the Classic Videos! Very Interesting!!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMkEMCHtJ4?list=RDgYMkEMCHtJ4&w=560&h=315%5D
The Furious 54 – Happy 54th Birthday to Rap Pioneer Melle Mel of the Furious Five was originally published on boom92houston.com
