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#741 WHITE LINES (DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel
One of the first rap anthems was "White Lines (Don't Do It)", performed by Barbados- born turntablist Grandmaster Flash and rapper Melle Mel. The latter had been a member of Flash's outfit known as The Furious Five. By 1982, they were taking the emerging genre into new directions: moving away from boasting to social issues with "The Message". 
"White Lines" continued that approach, this time a diatribe attacking cocaine. Written by Mel (aka Melvin Glover) and Sylvia Robinson, the song was issued in 1983. The latter had been a pop star, scoring a hit in 1957 entitled "Love is Strange" before helping pave the way for disco in 1973 with "Pillow Talk" and then co-founding the remowned Sugar Hill Records. This label was the first to offer rap and hip hop releases and was crucial in its evolution. After such a lengthy involvement in the music industry, Robinson passed away in 2011 due to congestive heart failure. She was 75 years of age.

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