What is Melle Mel's Net Worth?
Melle Mel is an rapper and songwriter who has a net worth of $1.5 million. Melle-Mel is best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Beyond his two studio albums with the group, "The Message" and "On the Strength," he released his debut solo album, "Muscles," in 2007. Mel has also collaborated with numerous other artists, including Chaka Khan, Afrika Bambaataa, Quincy Jones, Duran Duran, Nikkole, and Mic Murphy.
Early Life
Melle Mel, whose real name is Melvin Glover, was born on May 15, 1961 in New York City.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
In 1978, Glover formed the hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with Eddie Morris, Guy Todd Williams, Keith Wiggins, and his brother Nathaniel. Melvin Glover adopted the stage name Melle Mel; Nathanial became the Kidd Creole; Morris was Scorpio; Williams became Rahiem; and Wiggins was Cowboy. The group began recording for Enjoy Records and released the song "Superrappin" in 1979. Moving to Sugar Hill Records, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five found success on the R&B charts with such party songs as "The Birthday Party" and "Freedom." In 1982, the group released its debut studio album, "The Message," which included the highly influential socially-conscious title track. That track went on to become the first hip hop recording inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Grandmaster Flash left the group shortly after that due to contract disputes, and Mel took over as leader. Subsequently, the group recorded the anti-drug song "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)," and in 1984 released the album "Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five."
In 1988, after the return of Grandmaster Flash, the group released the album "On the Strength." However, it had an underwhelming commercial performance in a market crowded by such up-and-coming new school artists as Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, and Boogie Down Productions. It would be the final studio album released by the full lineup of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Further studio albums, such as 1989's "Piano" and 1997's "Right Now," were recorded by individual members of the Furious Five including Mel. Much later, in 2016, Mel collaborated with Scorpio on the single "Some Kind of Sorry."
Beat Street
As part of Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, Mel appeared in the 1984 dance drama film "Beat Street." Numerous other hip hop artists appeared in the influential film, including Afrika Bambaataa and his group Soulsonic Force, Jazzy Jay, Doug E. Fresh, Wanda Dee, and the Treacherous Three.
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Other Musical Collaborations
Mel has collaborated with a myriad of artists over the years. In 1984, he performed a rap on Chaka Khan's hit cover of Prince's "I Feel for You," which helped introduce hip hop to mainstream audiences. The next year, Mel contributed to the anti-apartheid song "Sun City." At the end of the decade, he contributed to Quincy Jones's hit award-winning album "Back on the Block," for which he shared the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for the title track. Among his other collaborations, Mel partnered with author Cricket Casey in 2006 to release the children's book "The Portal in the Park," which was accompanied by a bonus CD featuring his rapped narration and a couple of songs. Almost a decade later, Mel returned to the world of hip hop to contribute to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's song "Downtown."
Solo Career
Mel made his debut as a solo artist in early 2007 with his album "Muscles." Its lone single was "M-3: The New Message." Both the album and the single failed to chart.
Non-Musical Activities
Outside the music industry, Mel attended professional wrestling school in 2006 with the aim of getting into WWE. Instead, he took part in the Urban Wrestling Federation, a hip hop/pro wrestling collaboration. In 2008, Mel appeared on the culinary adventure television show "Bronx Flavor," and in 2012 showed up in Ice-T's and Andy Baybutt's documentary "Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap."
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