When Melle Mel took a risk in 1982 by singing "The Message", he changed hip hop forever and set the stage for the intersection between hip hop and social impact — a break away from the popular party tracks of the time. The poetry of the song painted a clear picture of life in the ghetto and its effects on the youth experiencing it. The song also explored the role of mass incarceration, economic recession, and systemic racism in creating and maintaining the ghettos with little hope for escape. The song went platinum a month after release and was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2002. Melle Mel's storytelling through the song also shifted the spotlight from the DJ to the MC, thus setting the stage for future hip hop artists to use their music as a platform for their own messages.