born Melvin Glover, also known as Grandmaster Mele Mel, is an American Hip-Hop musician - one of the pioneers of old school Hip Hop as lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Melvin Glover was the first rapper to call himself "MC" (Master of Ceremony). Other Furious Five members included his brother The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Scorpio (Eddie Morris), Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams) & Cowboy (Keith Wiggins). While a member of the group, Cowboy created the term "Hip-Hop" while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five began recording for Enjoy Records and released "Superrappin'" in 1979. They later moved on to Sugarhill Records 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 Mele Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matter, in particular the Reagan administration's 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 conscious 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'". Other than Mele Mel, no members of the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five actually appear on the record. Bootee also contributed vocals (Rahiem was to later lip-sync Bootee's parts in the music video). "The Message" went platinum in less than a month and went on to become arguably the greatest record in Hip-Hop history. It was the first Hip-Hop record ever to be added to the United States National Archive of Historic Recordings and the first Hip Hop record inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. ...Read More (via Wikipedia)
