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Hip-hop’s first superstar shows off his muscles

The song lyrics: ‘Don’t push me ‘cos i’m close to the edge, i’m trying not to lose my head’ may not mean that much to the youth of today who love artists like Kano and T.I, but their older brothers and sisters will instantly recognise those lyrics from The Message, the song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five that provided an early glimpse of the uglier side of America. If the young’uns are lucky, their older family members will put them up on game.

Those lyrics were penned by one Melvin Glover aka Bronx rapper Melle Mel, hip-hop’s first superstar. When it was released in 1982, The Message became an instant classic. It was the first rap record to talk about the social and economic conditions that existed in America’s poor black communities, and softened up the market for the likes of Public Enemy and Krs-One’s Boogie Down Productions, who would arrive a few years later.

As well as being the first socially-conscious rapper of note, Melle Mel can also lay claim to having been on the first tune to successfully marry r’n’b and hip-hop. Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You is still guaranteed to fill a floor. The line: ‘Chaka Khan let me rock you, let me rock you Chaka Khan.’ is almost as famous as the lyrics from The Message.

“When The Message came out, we didn’t really know if people were gonna accept it.

“I’m proud of what I did as far as just being involved with hip-hop and just pioneering the culture of hip-hop all over the world,” Melle says. “Showing people what hip-hop is, travelling around introducing hip-hop to people. I feel proud. I feel I did something with my life.”

He’s had the platinum plaques, the Grammy awards and the respect as a pioneer. Which makes it all the more strange that Muscles is Melle Mel’s first album as a solo artist. It’s also his first new release for more than a few years.

“I was always trying to put little ideas together,” he says of his time away. “I always felt there was maybe a little something missing from hip-hop with the type of images that are out there. If hip-hop was a family you might have had the son and then you might have had the daughter, but you didn’t necessarily have the father and the mother. That other figure. I wanted to put my own thing together to add another element. Hip-hop has been around so long. It’s been around for 30 years. I feel I can come in and just be who I am. One of the elder statesmen.

“I just felt it was a good image to come out with,” he continues of the Muscles title.

“All kinds of people can relate to that. A guy that’s strong is a little eye-catching. It’s almost like looking at a picture of a fine girl. Even another girl would have to admit that she has a nice body or whatever. So I just figured that’s what I would do.”

How many days does he work out per week? “About five days.”

The record sounds right up-to-date. There’s production from Dame Grease and The Heatmakerz, (who’ve produced for the likes of Dip Set and DMX) as well as Joey Mekkah (of old school group The Boogie Boys). England’s own Kamanchi Sly of legendary London group Hijack is on hand to remix the first single M-3.

The time is right for a new Melle Mel album. 2006 has seen brilliant albums from hip-hop’s elder statesmen such as Public Enemy’s Rebirth Of A Nation (plus Flavor Flav’s solo) and Ice Cube’s Laugh Now, Cry Later. Ice T recently caused a stir by posing naked, with his equally-naked wife Coco, on the cover of his recent album Gangsta Rap.

Slick Rick, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane are all expected to drop albums in 2007. Slowly but surely, hip-hop is changing from being a youth-orientated culture to one that respects its elders in the same way rock music does.

“The people that actually run the labels and the guys that a&r the companies don’t have the right understanding of hip-hop,” Melle insists. “Their perspective is that they’re just trying to get that guy. That guy will always be a younger guy. It won’t be a rapper that’s an old guy. I’m in the streets all the time going to open mics and all that and there’s people that can rap just as good as anyone. But nobody wants to sign them because they don’t have the right image. These (record company) guys are not a good judge of what talent is. To sign someone they got to be like 50 Cent or like Nelly. But when they sign guys like them it doesn’t work ‘cos it’s not them. There should be an older representative of what hip-hop is. They need to get used to seeing an older guy doing what he’s been doing for the last 30 years.”

Unsurprisingly, he’s about to put those muscles to good use in a way that has nothing to do with music. Being a world-class professional wrestler is not enough apparently. Melle Mel is gonna be putting it down in the WWE before too long. So as well as being the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, he’ll also be the first to put the smackdown.

“Oh yeah, I’m about to start wrestling,” he says excitedly. “I went to the wrestling school this past summer. I’m trying to take everything to another level in terms of high-powered entertainment.”

• M-3 is out now, Muscles is released in January 2007

Published: 28 November 2006
Issue: 1246

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