Summary.
The "message" of rap became even more relevant with
Public Enemy, whose
agit-prop hip-hop music was an explicit call to arms in the face of
urban violence.
Sandwiched between the galvanizing but naive Yo Bum Rush The Show (1987)
and the mature and self-indulgent Fear Of A Black Planet (1990),
their masterpiece (and hip-hop's masterpiece)
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
was a collection of powerful sermons, reminiscent of the MC5.
Norman "Terminator X" Rogers pushed the sonic montage of hip-hop towards new
delirious and violent excesses.
Full bio.
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Public Enemy inaugurated the political branch of hip hop, glorifying urban violence. Escorted by a sort of private police, they provoked disturbances reminiscent of the Rock Movement of twenty years earlier. Rappers Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour) and Flavor Flav (William Drayton) positioned themselves as the modern spokespersons of black unrest, no longer inspired by the Black Panthers but by Louis Farrakhans anti-Semitic Black Muslims (the black equivalent of the white Ku Klux Klan).
Their first album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987), with Vernon Reid on guitar, was a breakthrough work. The style was already dense and intense, closer to hard rock than the party-rap of the time (You're Gonna Get Yours, Miuzi Weighs a Ton, Public Enemy No. 1).
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) is already a classic, an overwhelming and sophisticated showcase of revolutionary music. The rappers push themselves dramatically and paroxysmically over a jumble of rap noises, casual bandisms, scratch improvisations (Terminator X, aka Norman Rogers, the scratch wizard), and electronic disturbances. Traditional genres are shredded through mimicry. The tank-like funk of Louder Than A Bomb, the overwhelming anthem Rebel Without A Pause, the unleashed heavy metal of Channel Zero, the oriental hypnosis of Shaw 'Em Whatcha Got, the Dadaist cacophonies of Terminator X, the funky-tropical spree of Bring The Noise, and the dissonant minimalism of Black Steel are all estranged by manic arrangements that highlight their tribal qualities.
The true architect of this mosaic art is producer and arranger Hank Shocklee (leader of the Bomb Squad, credited with the production): he meticulously constructs the tracks that Ridenhours lyrics then transform into war songs. Drayton is his playful counterpart, and the alternating tones of the two constitute an important innovation in themselves.
Their polemical sermons emphasize the most terrifying aspects of urban life, and at their best, the accumulation of incoherent sonic events creates unsettling, noir-like atmospheres that reveal the latent neuroses of the underclass. They could be the Country Joe of black slums, sarcastic storytellers of their times ills, but, remaining faithful to the tradition of Sly Stone and George Clintonthat to get a black persons mind moving, you first have to get their legs movingthey prefer to turn their speeches into hilarious fairground dances, or rather, small symphonies of sonic gags.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
After Fight The Power (1989), the theme song of a movie, and Welcome To The Terrordome (1990), their first single, Public Enemy returned with Fear of a Black Planet (1990), containing the hits 911 Is a Joke, Brothers Gonna Work It Out, and Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man, as well as Burn Hollywood Burn; followed by the relatively uneventful Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black (1991), produced by the Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk, which simply recycles the same old ideas for a white audience (By The Time I Get To Arizona, Nighttrain, Shut Em Down).
Terminator X released two solo albums:
The Valley of the Jeep Beets (1991) and
Super Bad (1994).
Chuck D released The Autobiography of Mistachuck (1996).
In the meantime, the saga of
Public Enemy continued with the much sonically improved
Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (1994),
which was ignored because one of the worst music magazines in the USA
criticized it, but was actually one of their most musical efforts,
with powerful and engaging tracks such as
What Kind Of Power We Got,
What Side You On,
Hitler Day,
Bedlam 13:13.
He Got Game (1998) was limited by its original conception as a
movie soundtrack; and
There's a Poison Goin' On (1999) was released over the Internet.
Rebirth of a Nation (Guerrilla Funk, 2005) is a terrible parody of
the old Public Enemy sound.
New Whirl Odor (2005) is a bit better, but the sound is just not
what it used to be.
Power To The People And The Beats (Def Jam, 2005) is a career
retrospective.
Beats And Places (2007) collects unreleased tracks.
How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? (Slam Jamz, 2007), produced by Bomb Squad's G-Wiz,
is not only an attempt to regain the political charisma of the early
days but also an implicit self-referential tribute, as the crew quotes its
own instrumental and lyrical past.
Public Enemy released two LPs in 2012, which was clearly a bad idea.
Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp (2012), rich in live
instrumentation but also poor in beats creativity, contains WTF, and
The Evil Empire of Everything (2012), a longer album that contains even less interesting material.
Planet Earth - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Greatest Rap Hits (2013) contains re-recordings of some of their old songs and some new material (leftovers?)
Public Enemy returned with Man Plans God Laughs (2015), a rather tedious experience past the catchy No Sympathy From the Devil and the
almost funk-rock pulse of Man Plans God Laughs.
A cool sample from the Rolling Stones in Honky Talk Rules wakes up those
who fell asleep in the previous songs, but the sleep can safely resume after it.
Nothing Is Quick in the Desert (2017) contains Terrorwrist.
What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? (2020), produced by
David "C-Doc" Snyder, contains re-recorded old songs
with old glories like
George Clinton,
Cypress Hill,
Run-DMC and
Stetsasonic,
plus songs recycled from Nothing Is Quick in the Desert and the single State of the Union (with a beat by DJ Premier).
Loud Is Not Enough (2020), also produced by C-Doc, was credited to
Enemy Radio because Flavor Flav didn't appear.
They continued their sociopolitical routine on
What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
(2020) and
Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025
(2025).
