[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grandmaster-flash-the-furious-five-the-message-e1360364126779_4023.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''FRESH!'']]

''The Message'' is the 1982 debut studio album by the American hip hop band Music/GrandmasterFlashAndTheFuriousFive, best known for the title track which became an international hit song. Generally considered to be a CultClassic in hiphop history in 2002 it became the first rap song to be listed in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry.

''''
!! Tracklist

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Side One ]]

# "She's Fresh" (2:57)
# "It's Nasty" (4:19)
# "Scorpio" (4:55)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Side Two ]]

# "It's a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove) (4:57)
# "Dreamin'" (5:47)
# "You Are" (4:51)
# "The Message" (7:12)

The 1982 UK LP added "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (7:06) as bonus track. The 2010 expanded edition adds "Message II (Survival)" (6:46), "New York, New York" (7:19), "The Adventures of Grandmaster Himself" (5:45) and an instrumental version of "The Message" (7:11).
''''

!! Don't push these tropes, 'cause they're close to the edge. They're trying not to lose their heads.
* AlliterativeName: "It's Nasty"
--> ''The '''D'''uke of '''D'''are''.
* TheBigRottenApple: "The Message" about the pressures of living in the inner city.
* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: From "The Message":
--> ''My son said, Daddy, I don't wanna go to school''\\
''Cause the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool''\\
''And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper''\\
''If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper''\\
''Or dance to the beat, shuffle my feet''\\
''Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps''\\
''Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny''\\
''You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey''
* ConsciousHipHop: "The Message" was an early hugely influential political and conscious hip hop track, decrying the poverty, violence, and dead-end lives of the black youth of the time.
* CrapsackWorld: "The Message" and "It's a Shame" both are an outcry about the state of the world is in, especially for the black man.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the ghetto life in "The Message", which tells a story about a hypothetical kid who drops out of school and becomes a criminal because of the way people idolize them. He unsuccessfully attempts an armed robbery, gets arrested, and is sentenced to several years in prison where he is raped and ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide hangs himself]].
* DespairEventHorizon: "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge" in "The Message".
* DownerEnding: Each tale told in "The Message" ends bad or without much hope for the future.
* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: "Scorpio".
* EpicRocking: "The Message" and "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" are longer than five minutes.
* FaceOnTheCover: A group shot of the band.
* GenreBusting: "Dreamin'" and "You Are" sound more like romantic soul ballads than hiphop. "Scorpio" sounds more like the popular dance electronica of the 80s than hip-hop.
* GenrePopularizer: This album and especially the title track help launch PoliticalRap into public popularity.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: "It's Nasty" has a line in Italian:
--> ''Ayy, tu eta por llamaseta mi amor, Linda''
* InstrumentalHiphop: "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the wheels of Steel" has vocals, but they are only samples, no new lyrics.
* LyricalDissonance: "The Message" has a very upbeat tune and lyrics like this:
--> ''It was plain to see that your life was lost''\\
''You was cold and your body swung back and forth''\\
''But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song''\\
''Of how you lived so fast and died so young''
** The song itself talks about how horrendous New York and the ghetto is.
* MommasBoy:
--> ''Everybody raise your arms if you love your mother.''
* OneWomanSong: "That girl is fresh!" in "She's Fresh".
* NonAppearingTitle: Nowhere in "The Message" is the word "message" actually used.
* {{Pacifism}}: "It's a Shame" addresses violence and warfare and makes a plea for peace.
* PoliceBrutality: The band is arrested by the police near the end of "The Message" for the crime of looking like gang members and hanging around a street corner.
* PoliticalRap: "The Message" and "It's a Shame" talk about ghetto poverty and crime.
* PrisonRape: From ''"The Message".
--> ''Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did''\\
''Got sent up for an eight-year bid''\\
''Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag''\\
''Spend the next two years as an undercover fag''\\
''Bein' used and abused to serve like hell''
* ProductPlacement: "It's Nasty"
--> ''As DJ Flash, cuts so mean''
--> ''That he wanna know your favorite jean''
--> ''Is it Jordache? (NO!) Gloria Vanderbilt? (NO!)''
--> ''Maybe it's Sassoon? (NO!) How about Sergio? (I DON'T CARE!)''
--> ''Could it be Calvin Klein? (NO!) Then what is it? (?????)''
* {{Sampling}}
** "She's Fresh" contains samples from "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch and "Lovomaniacs (Sex)" by Bobbie Knight.
** "It's Nasty" contains samples from "Genius of Love" by Music/TomTomClub.
** "It's a Shame" contains samples from "Mt. Airy Groove" by Pieces Of A Dream.
** "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" contains samples from "Good Times" by Music/{{Chic}}, "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band, "Rapture" by Music/{{Blondie|Band}}, "Another One Bites the Dust" by Music/{{Queen}}, "8th Wonder" by Music/TheSugarhillGang, "Monster Jam" by Sequence, "Glow of Love" by Change and "Life Story" by The Hellers.
** "The official adventures of..." from "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" would be sampled in itself countless times, among which during "PSK- What The Hell Does That Mean?" by Music/SchoollyD from his album ''[[Music/SchoollyDAlbum Schoolly D]]''. The line itself comes from a ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCs1WHbN8NU spoken word recording.]]
* ShoutOut:
** "Dreamin'" opens with a dedication to Music/StevieWonder, "'cause he's the greatest!"
** In "You Are" God and Our Lord UsefulNotes/JesusChrist are mentioned.
** From "The Message"'':
*** "Says she watches too much/ it's just not healthy/ ''Series/AllMyChildren'' in the daytime/ ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' at night/ Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight".
*** ''Now you're unemployed/ all non-void/ walking 'round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd.''
** The line "there ain't a damn thing funny" in "Johnny Ryall" from Music/BeastieBoys' ''Music/PaulsBoutique'' is a shout-out to "The Message".
** "It's Nasty" was sampled by Music/PublicEnemy during "Leave This Off Your Fuckin' Charts" from ''Music/FearOfABlackPlanet''
* SingerNamedrop: Done several times, to all the band members.
* SpokenWord: "It's A Shame".
--> ''Yo Flash. This time cut it mellow!''
* StockSoundEffects: The police car arriving, siren and all, near the end of "The Message".
* TitleTrack: "The Message", though these words [[NonAppearingTitle don't appear]] in the actual lyrics.
* YouWatchTooMuchX:
--> ''My brothers doin' bad /stole my mother's TV''
--> ''Says she watches too much/ it's just not healthy''
--> ''''Series/AllMyChildren'' in the daytime/ ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' at night''
--> ''Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight''.
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