Grandmaster Melle Mel is the first rapper to ever call himself an "MC" & Hip-Hop music’s first rap superstar. He is the voice of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, the group that invented the term "Hip-Hop" (thank you Keith Cowboy). They are the first & only Hip-Hop group ever to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. As lead rapper & lyricist for the group, Melle Mel is singled out by music
historians as the man most responsible for changing the focus in Hip-Hop music from a DJ’s dominated art form to one dominated by the MC’s. It has remained that way ever since. In a recent BBC poll of his peers, Melle Mel was named "G.O.A.T. - Greatest Rapper Of All-Time"!!!
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five began recording for Enjoy Records and released "Supperrappin’" in 1979. They later moved on to Sugarhill Records and were popular on the R&B charts hits such as "Freedom", "Birthday Party" & "It’s Nasty". In 1982, Melle Mel began to turn to more socially aware subject matter. He co-wrote & recorded "The Message" with Sugarhill Records session musician Duke Bootee. The song became an instant classic. It was one of the first glimmers of conscientious Hip-Hop and arguably, the most important record in Hip-Hop history. Mel would also go on to write songs about struggling life in New York City such as "New York, New York" and "Survival (The Message 2)".
In 1983, Grandmaster Flash split and the group continued on as Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five. They had further hits with "White Lines (Don’t Do It)", "Step Off" & "Pump Me Up". In 1984, he wrote "Beat Street Breakdown" for the film Beat Street & performed the song in the movie. That year he also had a monster hit performing the rap on Chaka Khan’s "I Feel For You". The record broke new ground by mixing Rap & R&B and Melle Mel won the first of his three Grammy Awards for it.
In 1985 Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five contributed the song "Vice" to the Miami Vice soundtrack. The 80’s also saw Mel perform with The King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew on "King Holiday" aimed at having Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday declared a national holiday and with Artists Against Apartheid on the anti-aphartide song "Sun City" aimed at discouraging other artists from perfoming in South Africa until that goverment ended its policy of apartide. He won a regional Emmy Award for his anti-drug commercial with producer Van Silk. Mel ended the decade by winning two more Grammy awards for his work on Quincy Jones "Back On The Block" album and "Q - The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones".
Melle Mel is credited with bringing Hip-Hop from a Bronx based fad, to an international phenomenon. To his credit, his fame was based on the worldwide circulation of underground tapes and vinyl records before the age of MTV, the Internet or mp3’s. To this day, Melle Mel is a highly sought after artist for guest appearances and shows both domestically and abroad. Over the course of his career, Mel has worked closely with other music luminaries such as U2, Duran Duran, Tupac Shakur, Funkadelic, The Last Poets and many others. His records have been covered by platinum selling artists such as Puff Daddy & Ma$e, Ice Cube and The Dogg Pound.
The ability to appeal to all musical genres while maintaining his credibility is the key to what makes this Hip-Hop legend relevant within the ever-changing music industry. On November 14, 2006, Grandmaster Mele Mel (as he is now known) released the children’s book "The Portal In The Park", which comes with a bonus CD of his rapped narration. Also in 2006, Mele Mel attended professional wrestling school and in a 2007 interview with allhiphop.com stated that "I’m going to try to take some of John Cena’s money and get with WWE and do my thing". Mel released his first ever solo album, "MUSCLES" on February 6, 2007. The album produced largely by Black Solaris Entertainment & released on Mel’s own Big Gunz record label, features Ice Cube and Joey Mekkah (formerly Romeo JD of the Boogie Boys). The first single and music video is "M3 - The New Message".
Through all of Mele Mel’s success and longevity, he has maintained his humility and kept his roots with his fans and the essence of hip-hop. On March 12th, 2007, The Furious Five (joined by DJ Grandmaster Flash) became the first and only rap ever to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
For press enquiries and interview requests, please contact:
H.Rockk Nelson (Big Gunz Entertainment.
Office: 347-535-0768
Mobile: 347-628-7952
Fax: 866-268-2707
Pref: Rockk@nyc.rr.com
Mickey Bentson (PayUp Management)
Office: 718-864-2933
Mobile: 757-438-7614
Fax: 201-357-5265/ Pref: payup100@aol.com
New CD "Muscles" IN STORES NOW!!! World-Wide!!!
Available for download on I-Tunes, Napster & other download services right NOW!!!
NEW MUSIC & NEW VIDEOS & GET THE NEW KIVEL RINGTONE NOW.... WHAT'S GOOD MY FRIENDS? IT'S KIVEL WITH A NEW BATCH OF GOOD VIBES AND GOOD RHYMES. COME THROUGH AND TAKE A LISTEN. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED. GET "THE GRAVITY PROMOS" FOR FREE WITH YOUR PURCHASE OF A CD FROM MY PAGE.
1.100 BARS 2.FLIPPIN DA BREAD 3.BUILDINGS 4.GO HARD 5.SHE'S SO
FOR MUSIC CHEK MYSPACE.COM/KIVEL2 FOR VIDEOS CHEK YOUTUBE.COM/KIVEL2 FOR EXCLUSIVES CHEK SOUNDCLICK.COM/KIVEL
Hi Mel, It's been about 25 years! I can't believe it's been that long! My claim to fame is that I rapped 3 seconds on Internationally Known! The L.A. Girls! Hope to see you in Cali soon! Keep it soulful and funky! Arlene
Mel, go check out my brother's new place on Bruckner Blvd called "The Gallery". His name is Pete B, he runs the place. Tell him his brother Gino in AZ sent you. You're gonna like it. By the way, when are you comin to AZ?
Available now on 12" black vinyl, limited green vinyl and digital download.
Rubadub Review:
"Politically charged electro from Miami producer Alpha 606, this is pretty wicked shit. The man is fusing the percussive Latin influence from 80's Miami Bass (Conga's etc) with the futuristic glitch-werk of say, early Schematic records. Proper Miami shit that manages to be booty shaking and chin stroking at the same time. Tip!"
peace mele mel! just to let ya know .. we recently posted a snippet of our upcoming release (2CD|4LP) BOOM BAP BLUES which will hit the streets worldwide JULY 18TH (rapublik records/rough trade). check it out if you want. the release features guest appearances and wise words from M-EIGHTY (think differently music group), JERU, MC SPONTAN, INVINCIBLE TEMPLE (popa wu records) and many more ... NOTE: ALL GAINS WILL BE GIVEN TO A BENEFICIAL ORGANISATION! support the project and PRE-ORDER NOW on HHV.DE to get a shirt, poster and stickers for free! one love outta lost hill
I just gave you a sticker for your profile. <a href='http://profile.myspace.com/Modules/Applications/Pages/Canvas.aspx?appId=104107&appParams=%7B%22showImage%22%3A%2264767%22%7D&track=comment._link1..._share..._v1......'>Click here to view it full size and send me one back!</a><br><br><a href='http://profile.myspace.com/Modules/Applications/Pages/Canvas.aspx?appId=104107&appParams=%7B%22showImage%22%3A%2264767%22%7D&track=comment._img1...._share..._v1......'><img src="http://cdn7.youplusplus.com/bs/small.64767.jpg"></a><br><br><br>[ <a href='http://www.myspace.com/355126061?id=1&track=comment._link2..._share..._v1......'>See more stickers</a> | <a href='http://profile.myspace.com/Modules/Applications/Pages/Canvas.aspx?appId=104107&appParams=%7B%22showImage%22%3A%2264767%22%7D&track=comment._link3..._share..._v1......'> Share this sticker!</a> ]</font></b>
<br /><br />
-------------------------------<br />
<i>This comment was sent by your friend via the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/355126061">Bumper Stickers</a> application. To block comments sent via Apps. click <a href="http://profileedit.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=accountSettings.applicationSettings">here</a>.</i> <br />
Hey Grandmaster Mele Mel, I just bought you as my PET! <br/><a href='http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=361263053&source=ni_comment._link...._PETL...._v5......'>Click here to find out how much I think you're WORTH!</a><br/><br/><a href='http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=361263053&source=ni_comment._img1...._PETL...._v5......'><img src='http://cdn1.slicezero.com/oyf_prod/images/ffs_directory.png' border='0' /></a><br/>
<br /><br />
-------------------------------<br />
<i>This comment was sent by your friend via the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/361263053">Own Your Friends!</a> application. To block comments sent via Apps. click <a href="http://profileedit.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=accountSettings.applicationSettings">here</a>.</i> <br />
