For a small absurd movie, I decided to use a section of the Hip-Hop classic ‘White Lines’, originally performed by Melle Mel (and his Furious Five) and released in 1983. There’s a long story behind the history of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and the Furious Five, shortly after they had scored a hit with ‘The Message’, but I won’t be going to discuss that here. After all, the fun of White Lines, is that it’s an amazingly catchy piece of rap, Old School style. It has a bass line. It has the traditional background choir and it’s a social critique. And it even has been covered by the ever pop-uh-lar Duran Duran!
A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time,
He got out three years from now just to commit more crime.
A businessman is caught with twenty four kilos,
He’s out on bail, and out of jail, and that’s the way it goes!
Something weird (and out of order) about the song: it’s often attributed to both Flash and Melle Mel. However, I’m pretty sure it was released by Grandmaster Melle Mel (and the Furious Five) only. And I always thought Melle Mel was a bit more hit savvy than Flash and his companions after the well known split-up.