God bless YouTube: I Will Survive



YAY: an amazing clip of Melle Mel & Duke Bootee lip-syncing their Electro Vérité classic Message II (Survival) on some German TV show in 1983.

NAY: hang on – that’s not Duke, it’s Rahiem from the Furious Five just like in the video for The Message. Yet more shiesty Duke Bootee erasure by Sugar Hill Records or wot?

AYO: word around town, Melle Mel’s Zed from Zardoz lookin’ outfit was the tipping point which forced Run-D.M.C to flip Rap’s whole sartorial script with their Adidas tracksuits, Lee jeans, and Double Goose bomber jackets.

MAYBE: was Melle Mel’s outfit the inspiration for 2Pac’s infamous studded leather vest? ‘Pac thought he was Mob Piru but looked more like a Crippendale in that thing.