Melle Mel

Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961), better known as Melle Mel /ˈmɛli ˈmɛl/ and Grandmaster Melle Mel, is an American hip-hop musician – one of the pioneers of rap as lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Biography

Melvin Glover, of a Cherokee mother, was the first rapper to call himself "MC" (Master of Ceremonies). Other Furious Five members included his brother The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Scorpio (Eddie Morris), Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams) & Cowboy (Keith Wiggins). While a member of the group, Cowboy created the term "hip-hop" while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.^[1]

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five began recording for Enjoy Records and released "Superrappin'" in 1979. They later moved on to Sugarhill Records and were popular on the R&B charts with party songs, like "Freedom" and "The Birthday Party". They released numerous singles, gaining a gold disc for "Freedom," and also toured. In 1982 Melle Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matter, in particular the Reagan administration's economic (Reaganomics) and drug policies, and their effect on the black community. A song entitled "The Message" became an instant classic and one of the first glimmers of conscious hip-hop. Mel recorded a rap over session musician Duke Bootee's instrumental track "The Jungle". Some of Mel's lyrics on "The Message" were taken directly from "Superrappin'". Other than Melle Mel, no members of the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five actually appear on the record. Bootee also contributed vocals (Rahiem was to later lip-sync Bootee's parts in the music video). "The Message" went platinum in less than a month and was the first hip-hop record ever to be added to the United States National Archive of Historic Recordings and the first Hip Hop record inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Mel would also go on to write songs about struggling life in New York City ("New York, New York"), and making it through life in general ("Survival (The Message 2)"). Grandmaster Flash split from the group after contract disputes between Melle Mel and their promoter Sylvia Robinson in regard to royalties for "The Message". When Flash filed a lawsuit against Sugar Hill Records, their label, the factions of The Furious Five parted.

Mel became known as Grandmaster Melle Mel and the leader of the Furious Five. The group went on to produce the anti-drug song "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" (the unofficial music video starred up-and-coming actor Laurence Fishburne^[2] and was directed by then unknown film student Spike Lee). The record was falsely credited to "Grandmaster + Melle Mel" by Sugarhill Records in order to fool the public into thinking Grandmaster Flash had participated on the record. Mel then gained higher success appearing in the movie Beat Street, with a song based on the movie's title. He performed a memorable rap on Chaka Khan's smash hit song "I Feel for You" which introduced hip-hop to the mainstream R&B audience. Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five had further hits with "Step Off", "Pump Me Up", "King of the Streets", "Jesse", and "Vice", the latter being released on the soundtrack to the TV show Miami Vice. "Jesse" was a highly political song which urged people to vote for then presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.

In 1988, after an almost 4 year layoff, Mel and Flash reunited and released the album "On The Strength", but with up-and-coming new school artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, and Big Daddy Kane dominating the hip-hop market, the album failed miserably. Mel performed with The King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew on "King Holiday" aimed at having Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday declared a national holiday. Mel also performed with Artists United Against Apartheid on the anti-apartheid song Sun City aimed at discouraging other artists from performing in South Africa until that government ended its policy of apartheid. Mel ended the decade by winning two more Grammy awards for his work on Quincy Jones "Back On The Block" & "Q – The Autobiography of Quincy Jones" albums.

In 1996, he contributed vocals to the US edition of Cher's hit "One By One". Their version is only available on the maxi CD format.

In 1997, Melle Mel signed to Straight Game Records and released Right Now. This album featured Scorpio from the Furious Five and Rondo. The album barely sold at all in the US and the UK. This album took more of a harder rap style.

In 2001, he released the song "On Lock" with Rondo on the soundtrack of the movie Blazin under the name Die Hard. Die Hard released an album of the same name in 2002 on 7PRecords.

On November 14, 2006, Mel collaborated with author Cricket Casey and released the children's book "The Portal In The Park", which comes with a bonus CD of his rapped narration. It also features two songs by a then unknown Lady Gaga. The book was re-released in 2010. She performs with Mel on "World Family Tree" and "The Fountain of Truth". Also in 2006, Melle Mel attended professional wrestling school and in 2007 stated in an interview with allhiphop.com that "I'm going to try to take some of John Cena's money and get with WWE and do my thing".

On January 30, 2007, Mel released his first ever solo album, Muscles The first single and music video was "M3 – The New Message". On March 12, 2007, Melle Mel and The Furious Five (joined by DJ Grandmaster Flash) became the first rap group ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his acceptance speech, Mel implored the recording industry members in attendance to do more to restore Hip Hip to the culture of music and art that it once was, rather than the culture of violence that it has become. He added, "I've never been shot, I've never been arrested, and I've been doing Hip Hop all my life. I can't change things all by myself. We need everybody's help, so let's do it and get this thing done."

On October 10, 2008, Mel appeared on Bronx based culinary adventure show ‘Bronx Flavor’ alongside host Baron Ambrosia. In the episode entitled Night at the Bodega, he appears as a spiritual mentor to sway the Baron from his over-indulgent ways and get him on the right path to success.

In April 2011, it was revealed that he would take part in a new Hiphop/Pro Wrestling collaboration, the Urban Wrestling Federation with taping of the first bout "First Blood" taking place in June 2011.

Mel also appeared in Ice-T's 2012 Hip-Hop documentary "Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap".

In August 2015, Mel appeared with Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz in Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's song and music video "Downtown".

Discography

Albums

• 1982 The Message – (with 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')
• 1984 Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five (aka Work Party)
• 1985 Stepping Off – (as 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')
• 1988 On the Strength – (with 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')
• 1989 Piano – (as 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')
• 1997 Right Now – (As 'Grandmaster Mele-Mel & Scorpio')
• 2001 On Lock – (Grandmaster Melle Mel & Rondo As 'Die Hard')
• 2006 The Portal In The Park – (As 'Grandmaster Mele Mel' with appearances by Lady Gaga)
• 2007 Muscles – (As 'Grandmaster Mele Mel')
• 2009 Hip Hop Anniversary Europe Tour – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel')

Singles

• 1979 We Rap More Mellow – (As 'The Younger Generation')^[3]
• 1979 Flash to the Beat – (As 'Flash and the Furious 5')^[4]
• 1979 Superrappin' – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[5][6]
• 1980 Freedom – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[7]
• 1980 The Birthday Party – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[8]
• 1981 Showdown – (As The Furious Five Meets The Sugarhill Gang)^[9]
• 1981 It's Nasty (Genius of Love) – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[10]
• 1981 Scorpio – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[11]
• 1981 The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[12]
• 1982 The Message – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[13]
• 1982 Message II (Survival) – (As 'Melle Mel & Duke Bootee')^[14]
• 1983 New York New York – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[15]
• 1983 White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) – (As 'Grandmaster & Melle Mel' / 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five' / 'Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel')^[16][17][18]
• 1984 Continuous White Lines – (Remix – as 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five)^[19]
• 1984 Jesse – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel)^[20]
• 1984 Beat Street Breakdown aka Beat Street – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')^[21][22]
• 1984 Step Off – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')^[23]
• 1984 We Don't Work for Free – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')^[24]
• 1984 World War III – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five' / 'Grandmaster Melle Mel')^[25][26]
• 1985 King Of the Streets – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel')^[27]
• 1985 Pump Me Up – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five')^[28]
• 1985 Vice – (As 'Grandmaster Melle Mel')^[26]
• 1985 The Mega-Melle Mix – (As 'Melle Mel')^[29]
• 1988 Gold – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[30]
• 1988 Magic Carpet Ride – (As 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[31][32]
• 1994 Sun Don't Shine in the Hood – (Split 12" single with Da Original as 'The Furious Five')^[33]
• 1995 The Message '95 – (Remix – as 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five'^[34][35]
• 1997 The Message – (Remix – as 'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five')^[36][37]
• 1997 Mama – (As 'Grandmaster Mele-Mel & Scorpio')^[38][39]
• 1997 Mr. Big Stuff – (As 'Grandmaster Mele-Mel & Scorpio')^[40]
• 2003 Where Ya At? – (As 'Melle Mel')^[41]
• 2007 M-3 – (As 'Grandmaster Mele Mel')^[42]
• 2011 Markus Schulz Presents Dakota feat. Grandmaster Mele Mel & Scorpio – Sleepwalkers

Collaborations

• What's the Matter with Your World? – (with Van Silk) 1989^[43]
• What Order – (with Keith LeBlanc) 1996^[44]
• RSVP – (with Nikkole) 2005

In 1986, Melle Mel also made a guest appearance on the songs "MC Story" by MC Chill and Emanon (The Baby Beatbox), and the single "Susie" collaborating with Afrika Bambaataa on "Who Do You Think Your Funkin With". In 1984, Melle Mel was featured on "I Feel for You" by Chaka Khan.

References

External links

• Melle Mel Biography
• Radio interview with Mele Mel on NPR
• Grandmaster Melle Mel discography at Discogs