The proverbial apple hasn't fallen far from the tree as it concerns Owen Fletcher, son of "The Message" co-writer Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher. While Duke Bootee changed the face of rap music by injecting socio-political commentary into the genre with 1982's game changing massive hit, "The Message", Owen has chosen to use politics to effect change with his Massachusetts state representative run.

Owen shared his father's influence in a recent conversation with Rock The Bells. "I can’t overstate how much my father shaped my thinking on politics and government," he says. "He insisted that I do the work to see the world the way it is, in all its beauty and ugliness. We read history, watched documentaries and films, listened to music and speeches, read the news, and discussed it all together."

Owen Fletcher spent 15 years working for state, regional, and local officials. Outside of work, he spent many of those years helping to elect officials who shared his values and priorities. In 2024, he decided that it was time to run for office himself.

"I was on the ballot for the first time this year," he says. In March, I lost a close race, by 550 votes out of over 23,000 cast, to represent Cape Cod, Martha’s Vinyard, and Nantucket on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee. In April, its members voted for me as an affirmative action add-on to serve as a full committee member.

I’m running as the Democratic candidate for state representative in the 5th Barnstable District this November 5th. I’ll be the only candidate on the primary ballot on September 3rd and do not have a Democratic opponent."

Duke Bootee joined the Sugar Hill Records house band in the early 1980’s where he played on hits by The Sequence, Spoonie Gee, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, The Funky 4 Plus One, and other acts signed to the label which is credited with birthing rap music as an industry. Fletcher, who earned the nick name Duke Bootee due to his admiration of shapely women wrote "The Message" based on the changing environment that he witnessed out of the basement window of his Jersey home.

“There was a park across the street from my house, and every now and then you’d hear someone break a bottle,” he told The Foundation in 2007. “That’s where the intro ‘broken glass everywhere’ comes from.” "The Message" is widely credited as the first rap song to inject social commentary into rap music, forever changing the possibilities for its use as a tool to uplift and educate. After his stint at Sugar Hill, Fletcher went on to record for Mercury Records, releasing the hits "Live Wire" and "Same Day Service" from his 1984 album Bust Me Out. Fletcher also played an integral part in 1985’s anti-apartheid anthem "Sun City."

In the same year he established Beauty & The Beat Records, launching the careers of Word Of Mouth & DJ Cheese, The Z-3 MC’s, The Point Blank MC’s, and MC Crash. Edward Fletcher taught Critical Thinking & Communication at Savannah State University from 2007 until he retired in 2019.

Learn more about Owen Fletcher here.