White Lines – Grandmaster Melle Mel

Grandmaster Melle Mel’s “White Lines” is one of the top established tracks in the Bboy Nation, and elements of the song, whether lyrical, instrumental, or cultural have made their way into Hip-hop in many different ways.

Often credited mistakenly to Grandmaster Flash, “White Lines” was actually completed following Flash’s departure from the group and Sugar Hill Records. It’s said that the attribution was made somewhat confusing (Grandmaster & The Furious Five), intentionally top mislead the public to believe Grandmaster Flash was involved with the track.

It remains true though, that unlike modern-day Rap Music, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash (@DJFlash4eva), and the Furious Five as well as the group’s contemporaries, often spoke about the problems in the community , i.e. crime, drugs, and might have had fun with the song, but in the end the message was most often positive and critical of society’s ills.

A portion of the “White Lines” Lyrics courtesy of MetroLyrics:

Ticket to ride, white line highway

Tell all your friends, they can go my way

Pay your toll, sell your soul

Pound for pound costs more than gold

The longer you stay, the more you pay

My white lines go a long way

Either up your nose or through your vein

With nothin to gain except killin’ your brain

“White Lines”, while clearly a critique of hard drugs and their perception in the community, is also an elemental Hip-hop and Bboy smash, with its bouncing bassline and Funky horns. The track also grabs some popular themes from the pop music of the early  80s, and it helps to recall that this music was likely heavily influenced by the Disco era, having closed its golden days around the same time.

And now, for the original… See if you can spot the samples and elements from Liquid Liquid’s 1983 jam “Cavern”: