The Message
About this Album
Released on October 3, 1982, through Sugar Hill Records, The Message is the debut studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and one of the most consequential records in hip-hop history.[1]
Recorded at Sweet Mountain Studios and overseen by Sugar Hill Records founder Sylvia Robinson, the album demonstrates hip-hop's range by mixing dancefloor party tracks with influential electro funk before culminating in the harrowing social realism of the title track.[2]
The New York Times named it the best album of 1982. The title track was the first hip-hop recording added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry (2002) and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012.[1] Rolling Stone named it the greatest hip-hop song of all time in their 2012 rankings.[3]