“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was released in 1982. Sugar Hill Records issued the single on July 1, 1982, and it later appeared on the group’s debut studio album, also titled The Message, released that October.
The song was written by Melle Mel and Duke Bootee, with lyrics portraying poverty, crime, political neglect, and daily life in New York City. Its vivid social commentary helped establish conscious hip hop as a major form of musical storytelling. The famous line “It’s like a jungle sometimes” became one of the genre’s defining phrases.
A common mix-up is confusing the song’s release with the album’s release date: both occurred in 1982, but the single came first. The track reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002, becoming the first hip-hop recording selected for that honor.