69. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - White Lines (Don't Do It) (Sugar Hill. 1983. 12-inch single)
Raven Mack: If I could knock one song off this list, it would be this one. The Furious Five sounded so corny any time it wasn't "The Message", and this song is just painfully stupid. I guess part of the problem is that, you know, drugs are pretty much known as being something that can fuck you up but also get you caught in some sketchy life situations. The whole concept of an anti-drug song, to me, seems pretty fuckin' stupid. I mean, if you don't already know that snorting something that you had to acquire illegally up into your nose to give you bursts of semi-euphoria might cause some sort of problems for you at some point, then Melle Mel's wack-ass weightlifter-powered couplets aren't gonna break through that block of a head you've got.
Seriously, the fact this song is on here is proof of how fuckin' east coast biased this panel was. Hell, Ruthless Records alone had two songs that could've easily took this spot: "It's Funky Enough" by The D.O.C. and "Supersonic" by J.J. Fad. I'd much rather be talking about either of those songs here than this "White Lines" crap. But hip hop dork thinking is Grandmaster Flash is a LEGEND and PIONEER so he must get his daps in over-abundance.
I love the fact someone can be considered a genius because they scraped a record back and forth while the needle was still on it. And if I ever got rich and could force people to do things for my personal amusement, I would totally make a record with Melle Mel as the main MC and Sen Dog as his hype man. That shit would be funny to me.
Mike Dikk: I have to disagree with the opinion that this song is cornier than “The Message”. I think both songs are equally corny, but both have their strong points. For instance, “White Lines” is the only song I know about that was originally about promoting drug use that switched into something against it. All they really did was tack on “Don’t Do It” in parenthesis, and I assume, add on that last verse. The first two verses are pretty vague and the chorus is obviously celebrating cocaine use. I’d bet these dudes were even high on coke when they wrote and recorded this song.
I’ve developed a new found love for this song from listening to it in preparation for this list. I never noticed that there’s a little sample of someone sniffing/snorting after the little bass parts. That alone makes this song great. I’m pretty surprised some southern group hasn’t ripped this beat off to once again make it pro-cocaine. If any southern rappers are reading this right now, consider this your hot tip to immediate super stardom.
Downloade: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious FIve - White Lines
Watch the video. Rang dang diggety danga dang.
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