Grandmaster Flash – White Lines & Other Messages (1991)

Like many of my age and background, I seem to recall that my first proper exposure to hip-hop was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 1982 UK Top 10 hit, The Message, a song I went back to many times, especially when my son later developed a love of hip-hop music. I'm pretty sure I picked this up for pennies, just for The Message and until the last day or two hadn't really given it a listen all through.

The album is bookended by the two UK top ten hits, starting with White Lines, their anti-drug message, good to hear, if not in my view the strongest, neither is World War III, a worthy but plodding and overlong piece. But after a couple of listens I've warmed to the vocoder delivery in Scorpio and Survival, sounding fantastic. New York, New York has a similar vibe sounding to me like a proto-Message song, always good. The political songs come to an end with the party rap of Freedom, borrowing in parts from Brother D and Collective Effort's Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize. This was something I found tedious at first, but I've warmed to the sheer fun and joy of this track, and it almost segues into Birthday Party, not to me as engaging, similarly Flash To The Beat, which follows. It's Nasty is notable only for sampling the theme from Tom Tom Club's Genius Of Love, before the grand finale, the ever wonderful The Message, still sounding as fresh and powerful as it did forty years ago.

This is a decent compilation, especially for an old grumpy git who doesn't really get hip-hop, with enough variety to keep it interesting, and not too much macho nonsense.

Link to a different compilation with most of the same tracks

3* - A couple of absolute stand out belters and most of this is quite listenable. It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.