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Rapper Melle Mel: Delivering 'The Message'

Fresh Air
Published August 29, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT
Melle Mel.
Frazer Harrison
/
Getty Images
Melle Mel.

When the hit rap song "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five came out in the early 1980s, many rappers regarded it as an inspiration as well as a political message.

Melle Mel was the original vocalist on "The Message." (This interview originally aired August 4, 1992.)

Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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