Boards
Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five PLUS Kurtis Blow
Lead rapper and main song-writer for Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, the hip hop pioneer that is Melle Mel is joined by the Furious Five and Kurtis Blow in what proves to be an old-school hip hop reminisce-fest of the most bass-laden order.
What's he been up to since his hip hop heyday, then, I hear you ask? Strangely, between 2006 and 2007, after releasing a children's book, complete with bonus CD of his rapped narration, Melle Mel also attended professional wrestling school, appeared in the Bronx based culinary adventure show Bronx Flavour, changed his name to Mele Mel, and released his first solo album, Muscles.
Thank god he's decided to stick to touring again.
The group have been credited with some pretty big things in their time. 1982 track The Message pointed towards a new breed of socially aware hip hop, which took in politics and economics, and continued in tunes such as the anti-drug anthem White Lines (Don't Don't Do It).
Melle was the first rap artist to win a Grammy for "Record of The Year" (after rapping on Chaka Khan's I Feel For You, the track arguably responsible for introducing hip hop to the mainstream R&B audience.)
Cowboy Keith Wiggins, one of the Furious Five, is even reported to have created the term 'hip hop', after scat singing the words 'hip,hop,hip,hop' in imitation of a soldier marching after his friend joined the US Army.
With support from the legendary Kurtis Blow (worth it just for the hits The Breaks and If I Ruled The World), get ready for some hip-shaking, knee-trembling funk.