jee504;7528458 said:
Going through the responses so far. These are the artists I've never heard albums from before.
Redman (only the Blackout ones with him and Meth)
The Roots
Little Brother
Termanology
Skyzoo
MF Doom
Dipset
Action Bronson
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5
E-40
Devin the Dude (only heard Just Tryin' Ta Live a long time ago)
Joe Budden
K-Rino
J-Dilla
Madlib
Instead of finding their whole discographies, what are the essentials I should check out?
I'm the one that mentioned Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5. They are the first rap group. They have recordings of their shows dating back to 1978, before The Sugarhill Gang. Unfortunately, they never made a proper album, the one album they did make when the group was together isn't that great. It was in the early years when record label execs didn't think there was a market for an all rap album, they thought rap was a fad. So the album has a lot of singing and ballads.
However, they made a lot of songs that aren't on that album and they have a lot of songs they made after they broke up. They broke up after The Message and split into two factions, one was called Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5, the other faction was simply called Grandmaster Flash. The original group got back together for an album in 1988 but they couldn't compete with the new rap styles at the time (Rakim, LL Cool J, KRS, NWA, Ice T, Big Daddy Kane, etc.)
Anyway, if you d/l their albums you'd be disappointed, but here's some of their better songs
1. We Rap More Mellow - The Younger Generation (1979)
2. Superrappin No 2. - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1980)
3. Freedom -Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1980)
4. Live Convention Freestyle - Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (1981)
5. The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1982)
6. Survival - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1982)
7. New York New York - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1983)
8. White Lines - Grandmaster and Melle Mel (1983)
9. The Truth - Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5 (1984)
10. World War 3 - Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5 (1984)
11. Beat Street - Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5 (1984)
12. Internationally Known - Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5 (1984)
13. Step Off - Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious 5 (1984)
14. I Feel For You - Chaka Khan feat Melle Mel
15. Girls Love the Way He Spins - Grandmaster Flash (1984)
16. Susie - Emanon feat Bronx Style Bob and Melle Mel (1986)
17. The Mayor - Melle Mel (1986)
18. Style - Grandmaster Flash (1986)
19. The Beach - Zulu Kings Ice T, Melle Mel and Bronx Style Bob (1986 or 1987)
20. U Know What Time It Is - Grandmaster Flash (1987)
21. Gold - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1988)
22. Fly Girl - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 (1988)
23. Back On The Block - Quincy Jones feat Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Ice T and Big Daddy Kane (1989)
^^^^^ That should give you a solid playlist. Obviously they sound old school. But if you listen to Melle Mel's solo joints, his lyrics stand the test of time, especially The Message, Beat Street and World War 3. And personally I'd rather listen to old school rap over the same gangsta/trap rap that floods the IC.
Also, they have dozens of live shows floating around the internet. Some of the sound quality is kinda busted but thankfully we have their studio recordings.
Every Hip Hop fan should listen to these songs and have an understanding of what these guys brought to the game. Seriously, if you're not hip to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 then you don't know anything about rap. They are unquestionably the most important rap group of all time. They have platinum singles, #1 songs and every accolade you can think of. They were the first to do it and regardless of personal preference, there's no denying they were first.
Just to give an example of how big of an impact they had, they were on the cover of Life magazine after The Message came out and The Library of Congress named The Message as one of the top 50 recordings of all time.
And Melle Mel was the first rapper (along with everybody else that won that year) to win a Grammy for his participation on Quincy Jones's Back On The Block album in 1989. The Grammys first recognized Rap in 1989.
Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5 were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame the first year they were eligible.
