Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

This sketch always reminds me of the first rap song I ever heard, The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious five (1982). Zimbabwe had just been born a year earlier and we were all getting used to a new felt freedom and optimism. Hip Hop was a great conduit for our teenage rebelliousness. In other words, we rapped  so much that we didn’t get into trouble. Not that there was much trouble to get in to in Harare in the early days of ‘Independence’.

“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh”

– The Message, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Sugar Hill Records, 1982)


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