No. 4 “The Message”
While the spirit of hip-hop was always rooted in “Peace, Love, Unity and Having Fun,” many of the genre’s early hits seemed only to focus on the latter. That all changed in 1982, when this legendary act was convinced to record a song about inner city disillusionment and crime. Considered by many the genre’s most important record, “The Message” was the first indication that hip-hop was growing up.
