How do the images in the video complement the content of the lyrics? Despite this contradiction, the song peaked at #4 on the Billboard R&B charts and became the template for generations of socially conscious (sometimes called “message”) raps to follow. The radio-friendly format and catchy synthesizer riff are seemingly at odds with the rather bleak subject matter of the song. There are a total of five verses-perhaps a few more than a typical radio-friendly pop song-and each verse gets incrementally longer as we hear their plight becoming more and more desperate. Musically speaking, the song is in a fairly conventional verse/chorus structure, with a two-measure refrain (“It’s like a jungle sometimes…”) that appears at the beginning of the song and after each iteration of the hook (the song was originally titled “The Jungle”). “The Message” is significant because it’s the first rap release that really draws attention to the conditions that the residents of the South Bronx (and no doubt other inner-city areas) experienced on a daily basis. The song was co-written and performed by Melle Mel and Duke Bootee, a studio musician at Sugar Hill Records, and the memorable synthesizer riff was added by Reggie Griffin, another studio musician.Ironically, Grandmaster Flash and four of the Furious Five don’t appear on the track until the skit at the end when the group has a run-in with the police. The group signed to Sugar Hill Records and released a few successful singles before going their separate ways not long after “The Message” was released. He assembled a group known as the Furious Five, which included Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Cowboy (Robert Keith Wiggins), Raheim (Guy Todd Williams), and Mr. Capital “Xs” are strong beats)ĭon’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edgeĪfter making a name for himself as a DJ, Grandmaster Flash started working with MCs. The first is not syncopated the second is syncopated, as it appears in the song (clap the “Xs” in a steady beat while speaking the text. In this case, try performing the following two examples. Syncopation: Syncopation occurs when a musical or lyrical accent does not fall on the strong beat put another way, the accent falls in between the beats.Verse: In contrast to a hook, verses tend to repeat the same music but feature different lyrics.The music of the hook may or may not be different from the music of the verse. Hook: A section of music and text that recurs throughout the song.
Refrain: A short music/lyrical segment that repeats, but isn’t substantial enough to be considered a hook or chorus.The lyrical delivery sounds more desperate here and gets more intense as the verse unfolds. Note the excited tone near the end of the verse The syncopation makes the lyrics sound like they’re teetering on the edge “Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge…” “It’s like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under” Refrain (x 2) (2 mm.) + 4 “extra” measures
Introduction (2 mm.) cymbal roll leads into a synthesizer riff (8 mm.) Artist: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveĭJ or Producer: Co-written by Melle Mel and Duke Bootee Reggie Griffin (synthesizer) Time
0 kommentar(er)
