Edward G. Fletcher (aka Duke Bootee) has died at the age of 69. The rapper was best known for writing the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five hit ‘The Message’.
While ‘The Message’ was credited as Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five featuring Melle Mel and Duke Bootee the track itself was just Melle Mel and Duke Bootee.
‘The Message’ was inspired by the 1980 Transit Strike in New York City.
Fletcher stopped his music career in the early 1990s and became a teacher. He was working at the Critical Thinking and Communication at Savannah State University in Georgia.
He has worked with Snoop Dog, Ice Cube, P. Diddy, Dr. John and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. Miles Davis sampled and named a song after him. “The Message” was selected by the Smithsonian Museum of American Recording as one of its “First 50 Recordings”, is in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and Norton Anthology of African American Literature. He died from congestive heart failure.
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