Reality Rap Pioneers
Hit A Lick Records co-founder Jerry Heller makes the statement, “N.W.A were the first great rap audio documentarians of the problems in our inner cities†(“Rap With Accent Marks,†by Agustin Gurza, Aug. 4):
As a longtime fan of hip-hop, let me correct him by pointing out that Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (led by rapper Melle Mel) are considered the pioneers of reality rap with their 1980 hit “The Message.†This was followed by Run-DMC’s “Hard Times†in 1983.
Yes, N.W.A should be credited with illuminating the problems in South-Central and predicting the inevitable backlash of the Rodney King beating and the death of Latasha Harlins. But Heller’s hyperbole and self-promotion should be tempered with the facts.
JOE DOUGHRITY
Silver Lake
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