At first, there was no message. Rap was all bluff and bluster. Party stuff, straight up. Hip hop, you don't stop. Throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care. Somebody scream.

"This whole book was scary for me," Grandmaster Flash admits when discussing his new tell-all book in a recent interview. "We as human beings, we don't willingly display our skeletons, our pains, our ...