S. Samuel
The Grammy Hall of Fame Award will be granted to hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash & The Furious for their 1982 hit, "The Message," at next year's Grammy Awards
Reports claim since getting established in 1973, this marks the first-time a hip-hop recording has received the Hall of Fame recognition.
The new entries, which also include Bruce Springsteen‘s “Born in the U.S.A.” album, Cole Porter‘s pop standard “Anything Goes,” Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s pioneering rap single “The Message” and Tina Turner‘s career-rejuvenating hit single “What’s Love Got to Do With It” bring the total number of recordings chosen for the Hall of Fame to 906. (Los Angeles Times)
Other notable inductees include late Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s “I Have A Dream” speech.
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, which oversees the Grammy awards, is adding another 25 recordings to its Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors works at least 25 years old that “exhibit qualitative or historical significance.” The works to be inducted in 2012 are an unusually diverse lot, ranging from Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” a single from 1934, and the Rolling Stones‘ “Exile on Main Street,” an album from 1972, to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech, taken from a spoken-word album issued in 1963, and the influential “Anthology of American Folk Music,” from 1952. (New York Times)
To date, the Grammy Awards have honored nearly 900 Hall of Fame records.
Established in 1973, more than 850 recording have been recognised in the Hall of Fame. Past inductees include The Beatles and Bob Dylan. “The Recording Academy is dedicated to celebrating a wide variety of great music and sound through the decades,” Mr Portnow said in a statement. “We are especially honoured to welcome this year’s selection of some of the most influential recordings of the last century. “Marked by both cultural and historical significance, these works truly have influenced and inspired audiences for generations.” (BBC)
Since its 1980’s release, “The Message” has been viewed as a hip-hop classic.
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. (All Music)
The 54 Grammy Awards is slated to take place February 12th, 2012.
Check out “The Message” music video below:
