Melle Mel's Song The Message

In the 1980s some blacks would say that the quality of life for blacks had improved. On the other hand some would say that discrimination still exist as far as wages, housing, and job opportunities. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip-hop group from the South Bronx of New York City. In 1982 they released their song “The Message”, a song that discussed inner city life of African Americans. Even though the entire group received credit for it, Melle Mel is the only one who raps in the song. The song starts off like, “It’s like a jungle sometimes/ It makes me wonder how I keep from going under”. A large urban city, such as New York is referred to as a “concrete jungle”. Like a jungle, there is so much going on and it is also every man for themselves. In such a

His brother is low on money, and he is going to try to get some extra cash by most likely pawning the stolen tv. He says she watches it too much as an excuse. A few lines down he says, “Can’t take the train to the job, there’s a strike at the station”. Before this song was recorded, the most famous city transit strike took place in New York City. Right after that he mentions, “Neon King Kong on my back”. He used king kong as a metaphor to say that, all of the pressures of living in New York are all on his shoulders. The last verse says, “A child is born with no state of mind / Blind to the ways of mankind”. That means that kids come into the world with no idea what life is really like. “God is smilin' on you but he's frownin' too / Because only God knows what you'll go through / You'll grow in the ghetto livin' second-rate / And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate”. Blacks living in the poor communities were treated as second class citizens. That could lead them to have resentment towards rich white people. “ You'll admire all the number-book