("The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) - I remember I was at Billboard Magazine when "The Message" came out.

And we had a little room that you could play records in.

And, you know, I put it on.

Wow.

♪ It's like a jungle sometimes ♪ ♪ It makes me wonder how I keep from going under ♪ - The minute you heard "The Message," you knew was an important record.

Gil Scott-Heron level stuff, but by hip hop artists.

It was such a profound record.

♪ Broken glass everywhere ♪ ♪ People (censored) on the stairs ♪ ♪ You know they just don't care ♪ ♪ I can't take the smell ♪ ♪ Can't take the noise ♪ ♪ Got no money to move out ♪ ♪ I guess I got no choice ♪ ♪ Rats in the front room, roaches in the back ♪ ♪ Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat ♪ - The way they start, "Broken glass everywhere," you know, "People on the staircase who don't care."

I mean, especially if you lived in the projects, I mean like, that's what you smelt every day.

Somebody peed on the elevator, you know?

There was broken glass everywhere.

So you know, the song spoke to what we were seeing.

♪ Watchin' all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow ♪ ♪ A crazy lady, livin' in a bag ♪ ♪ Eatin' out of garbage pails (censored) ♪ ♪ Said she danced the tango ♪ - "The Message" was really the culmination of the last 25 years that was thrust upon Black folks.

♪ The bill collectors, they ring my phone ♪ ♪ And scare my wife when I'm not home ♪ ♪ Got a bum education, double-digit inflation ♪ ♪ Can't take the train to the job ♪ ♪ There's a strike at the station ♪ ♪ Neon King Kong ♪ - My group wasn't The Happy Five, it was The Furious Five.

So I've always been a high-strung, angry type individual.

♪ Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge ♪ ♪ I'm trying not to lose my head ♪ ♪ Ah-Huh-Huh-Huh-Huh ♪ - When "The Message" came out that gave hip hop a voice and it actually grew up.

It's like that was when it went from the infantile stage to a young adult stage.

♪ 'Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny ♪ ♪ You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey ♪ - "The Message" actually talked about something.

It had, you know, the same feeling of a Bob Dylan record or a Marvin Gaye record.

♪ Gave him a transplant for a brand new start ♪ A record with a actual subject matter that meant something, that people related to like in their lives.

♪ I feel like an outlaw broke my last glass jar ♪ ♪ Hear them say, you want some more?

Livin' on a see-saw ♪ - The verse is "A child is born, with no state of mind."

So that was inspired by the Stevie Wonder song, "Living for the City."

A boy is born in hard-time Mississippi.

So now this is my version.

♪ A child is born, with no state of mind ♪ ♪ Blind to the ways of mankind ♪ ♪ God is smilin' on you, but he's frownin' too ♪ ♪ Because only God knows, what you'll go through ♪ ♪ You'll grow in the ghetto, livin' second rate ♪ ♪ And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate ♪ - When I first heard that song, I thought for the first time, "Wow, here's somebody who's speaking what I feel."

I can't get that on any TV network.

I'm not getting this in the widespread medium where you're hearing this voice of somebody talking about our experiences like I was with Melle Mel.