The Polar Music Prize 2019 goes to Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler). In 1982, the song “The Message” was released by his group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The song is known as the first prominent hip hop song to provide a social commentary. In the video for the song we see documentary pictures from New York giving a visual description of the lyrics. In between we see the group singing in the streets. There is also a short dramatic sequence in the end with a police intervention, to really empathize the bad situation for the people hanging out in the streets.

In 2013 hip hop-artist Timbuktu (Jason Diakité) released a version with Swedish lyrics as a way of showing his views on the problems in Swedish suburbs, following riots in Husby.