From left, Scorpio, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole and Raheim of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five pose in the press room following their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during ceremonies in New York on Monday, March 12, 2007.(Fashion Wire Daily/Grant Lamos IV)
FURIOUS 5
This crew is full of firsts. These Bronx cats were among the
first to mix harmonizing with Emceeing. They were the first
to put dance moves like the Motown acts in their stage show
. Flash was the first to put scratching and mixing onto record
in '81 with "Adventures on the wheels of steel".
They were the first to put social commentary in Hip Hop with
Melle Mel's last verse in "Superrappin" (12 min.
Version) , and again with the Message in '82. The Furious 5
are Mele Mel , Kid Creole ( Mels Brother) , Keith Cowboy(R.I.P)
, Mr Ness ( aka Scorpio) and Rahiem. Originally it was just
Flash as the dj,then Cowboy joined and acted as a crowd motivator
; he was a master at getting the crowd amped by using call
and response tactics ( say ho.....all the ladies say owwww....).
The crew was called Flash & The Three Emcees (Mele Mel
, Creole & Cowboy).
By ' 78 Mr.Ness joined,and it was Flash & The Furious 4
,then Rahiem left the Funky 4 and joined making it the legendary
Furious 5 . Flash was also the first Dj to be endorsed by an
electronics company - Gemini produced the " Flashformer " Scratching
mixer in 1988 . In ' 79 the crew signed with Enjoy records and
dropped the classic "Superrappin" . Actually they had
a song earlier in ' 79 called " We Rap more Mellow" on
Brass records , when they used the name The Younger Generation.
Although both classics ; neither got the airplay and attention
of Sugarhill Gangs "Rappers Delight" which dropped
the same year. In 1980 they signed with Sugarhill records and
dropped "Freedom" , which is one of their best works
; and used the same break as Crash Crews "Hi Powered Rap".
' 81 gave us "Birthday Party" and the classic "Adventures
on the wheels ". This record was extremely important because
it was the first record to have scratching and cutting on it....it
gave people outside of New York their first taste of scratching
, and changed the way Hip hop records were made !! '82 gave us " Its
Nasty " which lifted Tom Tom Clubs "Genius Of Love" -
Instant classic .
1982 was a critical year for the group. Duke Bootee...(a member
of the house band that played on most Sugarhill records releases)
collaborated with Mele Mel on the crews smash " The Message " .
This gritty tale of the inner city in the Reagan era was the
predecessor to todays so called reality rap. Mele Mel who was
the front man for the group used an old verse from " Super
Rappin " and along with Duke added 4 or 5 new verses. No
other Furious 5 members performed on the song ( except the arrest
skit at the end). This caused much understood division in the
group , and eventually led to a break up. Before the breakup
came the Message Lp, Message 2 & New York,New York ( with
Duke again ) and " White Lines ".
In 1983 Flash took Creole and Raheim with him to Elektra records
, added a few more Mcs and a dancer and named the group Grandmaster
Flash . They had success with " Girls Love the Way He Spins " ," Larry's
Dance Theme " , "Style " and " You Know What
Time It is " . Mele Mel took Scorpio and Cowboy , stayed
on Sugarhill records , and added some outlandish dancers etc
. They scored big with " Step Off " , " Beat St.
Breakdown " , "Pump Me Up " and " Internationally
Known " . Mels click was the better faction , but neither
rekindled the magic of the original group. In 1989 the original
group recorded the single " Gold " and dropped the
lp " On the strength" .
Neither got the airplay or attention it deserved . The original
line up minus Flash got together and recorded the " Piano" lp
in ' 89 also . In 1990 Cowboy died from complications of the
AIDS virus. Mele Mel continues to make music with Quincy Jones
, and dropped " Right Now " in ' 97 with Scorpio.Mel
also dropped an Lp in 2001 with West coast rapper Rondo. Mele
Mel performed on JayQuan's single"5 Mics" with Grandmaster
Caz in 2004. Flash was music director for the Chris Rock show
. Flash also dropped 2 mix cds in 2001 . Rahiem had a song on
the Juice soundtrack in the early 90s , and is now working on
material with his son . In 2004 GMF & F5 became the first
ever rap act to be elected for induction into the Rock & Roll
Hall Of Fame.....GMF & F5 the best to ever do it..... no
doubt.
