by Ron Wynn
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.