Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Cowboy , Scorpio Distribution, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Rahiem, Kid Creole.
Personnel: Skip McDonald (guitar); Chops Horn Section (brass); Dwain Mitchell, Gary Henry (keyboards); Ed Fletcher (percussion).
Additional personnel: Reggie Griffin (synthesizer); Doug Wimbish (bass guitar); Keith LeBlanc (drums); Dwain Mitchell, Gary Henry, Skip McDonald.
Audio Mixers: Sylvia Robinson; Steve Jerome; Jiggs Chase.
Liner Note Author: Peter Relic.
Recording information: Sweet Mountain Studios.
Photographer: Hemu Aggarwal.
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five merged the Afrocentric consciousness expressed by such early rappers as Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets with b-boy production to create "The Message," an all-time rap anthem. It was the focal point of this LP, which also included "It's Nasty" and "Scorpio," two other strong cuts that might have been winners on their own. Unfortunately, rather than a starting point, this album proved to be their ultimate peak. ~ Ron Wynn minimize