On the Strength of their catalogue, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five will be named Life Achievement Award recipients at the 63rd Grammy Awards!
One of The Furious Five members, Rahiem, took to Instagram on Thursday to announce the big news. “I just learned Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 will be receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys,” the Instagram post read.
“I didn’t know the Grammys knew we existed, but it’s very nice we weren’t forgotten and it’s a tremendous honor,” Rahiem told HipHopDX in a statement. “It’s still sinking in though, so when the feeling finally hits me, a celebration of some sort will commence [laughs].”
Some history on The Furious Five from HipHopDX:
Formed in 1978 by Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, The Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Scorpio and Rahiem in the South Bronx, the innovative group achieved mainstream success with the 1982 song “The Message,” a roughly six-minute deep dive into the poverty and socio-political issues they were witnessing in their community at the time.
Back in 2012, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and Scorpio joined LL Cool J, Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross for a special performance of “The Message” at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live.
“The Message” was chosen by The Library of Congress to be archived in the National Recording Registry in 2002. In 2007, the group became the first hip-hop act to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“What Les Paul and Chuck Berry did for the electric guitar, Flash did for the turntable,” Jay-Z said during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The Root has reached out to The Recording Academy to provide a comment and statement on this honor. The 63rd Grammys, hosted by Trevor Noah, will broadcast live on Jan. 31, 2021, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.