On the Strength

On the Strength
Studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Released	April 12, 1988
Genre	Hip hop
Length	44:07
Label	Elektra 60769
Producer	Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five chronology
The Message (1982) On the Strength (1988)
Grandmaster Flash chronology
Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang (1987) On the Strength (1988) Salsoul Jam 2000 (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Village Voice	C+[2]

On the Strength is the second and final studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Released in 1988, it was the full line-up's last album together. Although contributing to the album itself, Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) was not present for the album or single photo shoots.^[3][4]

The album was reissued in the US on CD in 2005 (Collectors' Choice Music, CCM-585-2) but once again (see Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang) omitted the bonus track (*) that was originally included on both the original CD and cassette versions of the album.

Track listing

1. "Gold" – 4:25
2. "Cold in Effect" – 2:28
3. "Yo Baby" – 4:31
4. "On the Strength" – 4:45
5. "The King" – 3:19
6. "Fly Girl" – 5:13
7. "Magic Carpet Ride" (featuring Steppenwolf) – 4:14
8. "Leave Here" – 3:50
9. "This Is Where You Got It From" – 4:06
10. "The Boy Is Dope" – 3:11
11. "Back in the Old Days of Hip-Hop" – 4:05 (*)

Notes

• "Back in the Days of Hip-Hop" also appeared as the B-side of the UK and US Gold 7-inch single and the Magic Carpet Ride 12" single. ^[5][6][7]

Personnel

• Artist & Repertoire: Raoul Roach
• Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Sadler) – turntables, drum programming, Flashformer transform DJ device, background vocals
• The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover Jr.) – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
• Keef Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
• Grandmaster Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
• Scorpio (Eddie Morris) – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
• Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams) – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
• Guy Vaughn – keyboards, drum programming, and vocals on The Boy Is Dope
• Afrika Bambaataa (Kevin Donovan) – music and drum-sound consultant
• Jesse Daniels Force MD's – vocals on Fly Girl
• Arthur "Disco B" Hayward – additional scratches and assistant to the Grandmaster
• Ray (Ray Roll) Cortez – vocals on The Boy Is Dope

References