Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five formed in the South Bronx, New York, in the mid-1970s, at the moment hip-hop was crystallizing from block party culture into something that would reshape global music.^[1] The group consisted of DJ Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) and five MCs: Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover Jr., Melle Mel's brother), Keef Cowboy (Robert Keith Wiggins), Mr. Ness/Scorpio (Edward Morris), and Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams).^[1]

Grandmaster Flash, born January 1, 1958, in Barbados and raised in the Bronx, pioneered foundational DJing techniques that would define the art form: "cutting" (rhythmically switching between tracks to extend a break), "back-spinning" (repeating a sound segment by spinning a record backward), and "phasing" (adjusting turntable speeds to match beats). Beginning around 1974, he began DJing at house parties and park jams in the Bronx, building an audience in the neighborhoods that would become hip-hop's birthplace.^[1]

Melle Mel, born May 15, 1961, in the Bronx, became the group's primary lyrical voice and one of the most influential MCs in hip-hop history. His brother Kidd Creole was among the founding members. Keef Cowboy is credited by many historians with coining the term "hip-hop," using a scat phrase to mimic a marching soldier's cadence while teasing a friend who had enlisted in the US Army.^[1][4]

Signed to Sugar Hill Records, the group released a series of recordings in the early 1980s that demonstrated hip-hop's range, from high-energy party tracks to the electro innovations of "Scorpio." Their 1982 single "The Message" became the first commercially successful hip-hop record to address social conditions directly, drawing on the realities of poverty, urban decay, and systemic neglect in the South Bronx. The track was created primarily by Melle Mel and Sugar Hill house musician Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher; Grandmaster Flash did not appear on the recording.^[3]

The group split in 1983, with Melle Mel retaining the Furious Five name and Grandmaster Flash departing with Rahiem and Kidd Creole. The two factions reunited periodically through the 1980s and 1990s.^[1]

Their legacy is among the most significant in recorded music. "The Message" 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 (2012). In 2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted by Jay-Z. The group received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.^[2]