Grandmaster Melle Mel Lands 2027 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Nomination
Originally published by AllHipHop Read the original
Grandmaster Melle Mel has reached the ballot for the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s 2027 class, putting one of rap’s foundational writers before the organization’s voting members.
The official nomination list places Melvin Glover in the performing-songwriter category. It points voters to “The Message,” “Freedom,” “New York New York,” “Scorpio” and “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” as a sample of his catalog.
His place on this ballot focuses attention on the writing itself. Melle Mel helped move rap beyond party records by putting city pressure, poverty and survival into songs built for a mass audience. That work gave later MCs another model for what a record could carry.
A Library of Congress essay on “The Message” credits Melle Mel as a co-writer and vocalist. The 1982 record paired his verses with Duke Bootee’s writing and performance, turning a stark account of urban life into a national hit and a lasting part of Hip-Hop’s social vocabulary.
The Library of Congress placed the recording in the first National Recording Registry class in 2002, citing its focus on urban social issues and the path it opened for later rappers.
The nomination also adds another institution to his record. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first rap group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. The Songwriters Hall now has to decide whether Melle Mel’s individual writing catalog belongs in its next class.
Hip-Hop and R&B have several lanes on the 2027 ballot. Kandi Burruss and will.i.am appear in the songwriter category, while Ne-Yo joins Melle Mel among performing songwriters.
Production duo Stargate is also nominated for a catalog that includes major records for Beyoncé, Rihanna and Ne-Yo.
A nomination starts the voting stage. The Hall says writers become eligible 20 years after the first commercial release of a notable song. Eligible members may choose up to three nominees in each category, and ballots are due by midnight Eastern on December 14.
Hip-Hop’s history inside the organization is still relatively short. Jay-Z became its first rapper inductee in 2017, decades after the culture began changing popular songwriting.
Melle Mel’s 2027 bid asks voters to recognize a writer whose words helped spark that change early on.
