The group began recording for Sugar Hill Records and were popular on the R&B charts with party songs and the like. In 1982 Melle Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matter, in particular the Reagan administrations 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 conscientious hip-hop. 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"). Grandmaster Flash split from the group after contract disputes between Melle Mel and their promoter Sylvia Robinson in regards to royalties for "The Message". Mel became known as "Grandmaster Melle Mel" and is now the leader of the Furious Five.
The group went on the produce the anti-drug song "White Lines (Don't Do It)" (the unofficial music video was directed by then unknown film student Spike Lee & starred an unknown Lawrence Fishburne. Mel then gained higher success appearing in the movie entitled "Beat Street", with a powerful song based on the movies title. Mel also performed on Chaka Khan's hit song "I Feel for You" which introduced hip-hop to the mainstream R&B audience.
1988 after an almost 4 year layoff, Mel and Flash reunited and released the album "On The Strength", but with up and coming and more advanced 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.
(He is sometimes spelled Mele Mel).
As the primary lyricist for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, Melle Mell was responsible for some of Hip-Hop's earliest hits such as "Superappin", "Birthday Party" as well as many eternal classics like "Beat Street", "White Lines (Don't Do It)", "The Message", and "New York, New York". Melle Mel was the 1st to MC in a new rhymee cadence, and he changed the way every MC rhymed thereafter. His downbeat on the two, four, kick to snare cadence is still the rhyme foundation MCs build on today. Melle Mel showed the Hip-Hop world that we could use the music for more than dance. We could communicate our social, political, and spiritual views to try to help each other shed light on major issues. He is one of the most respected MCs in Hip-Hop history with an unparalleled lyrical ability.
The truth
Melle Mel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They're all the same
Plastic faces
Plastic faces
Society's to blame
Open your eyes
Clear your fuckin' mind
Deep in your mind
Replicas of today's world
Commercially programmed
Plastic faces
Plastic faces
Society's to blame
Posing bodies
Unclear minds
Posing bodies
Society's crimes
In Melle Mel's song "The Truth," he addresses the issue of conformity and the societal pressure to look and act a certain way. The opening lines, "Mannequin, Mannequin, They're all the same, Plastic faces, Plastic faces, Society's to blame," criticize the way people have become replicas of each other, lacking originality and individuality. It's a commentary on the way mainstream culture dictates what is considered beautiful or desirable, and how people are brainwashed into conforming to those standards. The repeated mention of "plastic faces" reinforces the artificiality of these societal standards, and suggests that people have lost touch with their true selves.
Melle Mel implores listeners to "Open your eyes, clear your fuckin' mind, remove that disguise, deep in your mind," encouraging self-reflection and introspection. He urges people to shake off the influence of mainstream society and think independently. The final lines "Posing bodies, Unclear minds, Posing bodies, Society's crimes" speak to the idea that conformity has negative consequences, and that blindly following societal norms can lead to a lack of true self and personal fulfillment.
Overall, "The Truth" is a wake-up call to listeners to reject the pressures of society and instead embrace their own uniqueness and authenticity.
Line by Line Meaning
Mannequin, Mannequin
People are like mannequins, they are emotionless and expressionless, merely going through the motions of life.
They're all the same
People are conforming to society's expectations and losing their individuality.
Plastic faces
People are putting on a façade, hiding their true selves and emotions.
Plastic faces
People are putting on a façade, hiding their true selves and emotions.
Society's to blame
Society's pressure to fit in and be liked is causing people to act fake and superficial.
Open your eyes
People need to wake up and recognize the phoniness around them.
Clear your fuckin' mind
People need to rid themselves of the conditioning and expectations placed upon them by society.
Remove that disguise
People need to abandon the act and be their true selves.
Deep in your mind
People need to search inside themselves for their true identity and motivation.
Replicas of today's world
People are becoming mere copies of each other, everyone following the same trends and ideologies.
Commercially programmed
People are brainwashed and conditioned by advertising and popular culture.
Plastic faces
People are putting on a façade, hiding their true selves and emotions.
Plastic faces
People are putting on a façade, hiding their true selves and emotions.
Society's to blame
Society's pressure to fit in and be liked is causing people to act fake and superficial.
Posing bodies
People are posing and trying to look perfect, disregarding their true selves.
Unclear minds
People are confused and uncertain about who they truly are and what they stand for.
Posing bodies
People are posing and trying to look perfect, disregarding their true selves.
Society's crimes
Society is committing a crime against individuality and authenticity, by enforcing strict standards of beauty, lifestyle, and behavior.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mark Strong
@Xbot SevenHere you go mate 😀🤘
The birth of “hip hop”
Hip hop evolved during the 1970s and in 1977 Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins unintentionally coined the term. He mimicked the rhythm of marching soldiers singing “hip hop hip hop” jokingly to a friend who had just joined the Army. Later he used the phrase in a performance and disco musicians caught on, helping the term to spread like wildfire.
What does hip hop really mean?
While many think of hip hop as a genre of music, hip hop is much more than that. It is an attitude and a culture. It is a voice of people and something you live rather than do. It’s a passion and a love. It is a message you tell the world.
As a cultural movement, Hip Hop has been around since the 1970s but it wasn’t given it’s name until the early 80s. Legend has it that Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins originally coined the phrase in 1977 when teasing a friend that had recently joined the army. He told his friend that his days of freedom were finished and began to march on stage, chanting the words “hip/hop/hip/hop”. Needless to say that the bit went down well with the crowd. It was after this little stunt that Cowboy and DJ Lovebug Starski played with the idea backstage. Starski told the journalist Peter Scholtes, “I’d say the ‘hip,’ he’d say the ‘hop.’ And then he stopped doing it, and I kept doing it.” The two played with variations on the words at gigs until they eventually worked their way into The song “Rappers Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang: “I said a hip, hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you don’t stop”
It wasn’t until 1981 that the term “Hip Hop” was immortalized in print. Journalist Steven Hager penned an article for The Village Voice on a youth movement that was displacing gang violence through the use of dance, art, style and music. The article followed Afrika Bambaataa, former leader of The Black Spades gang and was titled: “Afrika Bambaataa’s Hip-Hop.”
Years later when asked during a lecture at Cornell University, why he chose “Hip Hop” to define the movement that he had helped to create, Bambaataa said:“Well, I chose the name ‘hip-hop’ because of the cliches brothers was using in their rhymes- Love Bug Starski and Keith Cowboy from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,” he said. “And I liked the sound of what they were saying. And when the media come to speak to me- cause we could have called it ‘the go-off’, ‘the boyoyoing,’ the ‘scat rap’ and all that type- but I liked that sound.”
“I said, “This is hip and when you feel that music you gotta hop to it, so that’s when we called it ‘hip-hop.'”
1stOnehere
I haven't heard this song in over 20 years! I've been searching for this cut for years. I still remember Cowboy's verse like it was yesterday! "Check me out as I run my game, there's not another mc that can make me feel shame". He lives on in my mind for a lifetime. I can't thank you enough for posting this song.
GR AWAKENDREAM
One of the hardest verses in hip hop history imo. the first rap album i heard back in '83
Roberto Diego
This is one of the best hip hop songs of all time. Melle Mel and the Furious Five: True Legends.
Xbot Seven
that one had POWER, not like about 90% of al the hiphop tracks afterwards.,., btw: in THAT song the say it " take a hip to the hop" is THIS the official birth?
TFJ Boxing
@Xbot Seven No. This was a few years after.
Mark Strong
@Xbot SevenHere you go mate 😀🤘
The birth of “hip hop”
Hip hop evolved during the 1970s and in 1977 Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins unintentionally coined the term. He mimicked the rhythm of marching soldiers singing “hip hop hip hop” jokingly to a friend who had just joined the Army. Later he used the phrase in a performance and disco musicians caught on, helping the term to spread like wildfire.
What does hip hop really mean?
While many think of hip hop as a genre of music, hip hop is much more than that. It is an attitude and a culture. It is a voice of people and something you live rather than do. It’s a passion and a love. It is a message you tell the world.
As a cultural movement, Hip Hop has been around since the 1970s but it wasn’t given it’s name until the early 80s. Legend has it that Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins originally coined the phrase in 1977 when teasing a friend that had recently joined the army. He told his friend that his days of freedom were finished and began to march on stage, chanting the words “hip/hop/hip/hop”. Needless to say that the bit went down well with the crowd. It was after this little stunt that Cowboy and DJ Lovebug Starski played with the idea backstage. Starski told the journalist Peter Scholtes, “I’d say the ‘hip,’ he’d say the ‘hop.’ And then he stopped doing it, and I kept doing it.” The two played with variations on the words at gigs until they eventually worked their way into The song “Rappers Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang: “I said a hip, hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you don’t stop”
It wasn’t until 1981 that the term “Hip Hop” was immortalized in print. Journalist Steven Hager penned an article for The Village Voice on a youth movement that was displacing gang violence through the use of dance, art, style and music. The article followed Afrika Bambaataa, former leader of The Black Spades gang and was titled: “Afrika Bambaataa’s Hip-Hop.”
Years later when asked during a lecture at Cornell University, why he chose “Hip Hop” to define the movement that he had helped to create, Bambaataa said:“Well, I chose the name ‘hip-hop’ because of the cliches brothers was using in their rhymes- Love Bug Starski and Keith Cowboy from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,” he said. “And I liked the sound of what they were saying. And when the media come to speak to me- cause we could have called it ‘the go-off’, ‘the boyoyoing,’ the ‘scat rap’ and all that type- but I liked that sound.”
“I said, “This is hip and when you feel that music you gotta hop to it, so that’s when we called it ‘hip-hop.'”
Xbot Seven
@Mark Strong cool tihng, didnt know that THIS cowby said it : )
any many thank you for all these words..
(omg i am listen to it again..)
Mark Strong
@Xbot Seven You're very welcome. I've been into.hip hop for 40 years, and it's my life. Check out this album. Mele Mel does the first song https://www.mixcloud.com/afrodamus/burning-out-of-control-the-sugarhill-mix-by-steinski/ Have you seen hip hop evolution on Netflix? First 3 episodes are the perfect history lesson for you 😀
ankokugaiBOSS
real hip hop in its purest form. this jam wasn't heard by a lot of people. "...got shot with a gun and stabbed with a knife people talk behind my back but never to my face!" "taught all the MCs the birds and the bees but they still can't get a young lady..!" this is the blueprint of all hip hop today.
GR AWAKENDREAM
those things happened too, on tour