Why would Public Enemy be called the 'Rolling Stones of the Rap Game'? Well the bio says that Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. We will have to agree with that while theres still some history to be written with this group. Building from Run-D.M.C.'s street-oriented beats and Boogie Down Productions' and Eric B and Rakim styled rhyming, Public Enemy pioneered a variation of hardcore rap that was musically and politically revolutionary.
With his powerful, authoritative baritone, lead rapper Chuck D rhymed about all kinds of social problems, particularly those plaguing the black community, often condoning revolutionary tactics and social activism. In the process, he directed hip-hop toward an explicitly self-aware, pro-black consciousness that became the culture's signature throughout the next decade. Musically, Public Enemy were just as revolutionary, as their production team, the Bomb Squad, ( Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder Eric 'Vietnam' Sadler and Keith Shocklee) created dense soundscapes that relied on avant-garde cut-and-paste techniques, unrecognizable samples, piercing sirens, relentless beats, and deep funk. It was chaotic and invigorating music, made all the more intoxicating by Chuck D's forceful vocals and the absurdist raps of his comic foil Flavor Flav. With his comic sunglasses and an oversized clock hanging from his neck, Flav became the group's visual focal point, but he never obscured the music. While rap and rock critics embraced the group's late-'80s and early-'90s records, Public Enemy frequently ran into controversy with their militant stance and lyrics, especially after their 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, made them into quasi-celebrities. After all the controversy settled in the early '90s, once the group entered a hiatus, it became clear that Public Enemy were the most influential and radical band of their time.
Chuck D and Hank Shocklee formed the foundations of Public Enemy in 1982, as he was studying graphic design at Adelphi University on Long Island. He had been DJing at the student radio station WBAU, where he and Hank Shocklee met Bill Stephney. All three shared a love of hip-hop and politics, which made them close friends. Shocklee had been assembling hip-hop demo tapes, and Ridenhour occasionally rapped over tracks to promote the radio broadcasts, "Public Enemy No. 1,"was born around the same time he began appearing on Doctor 'Andre Brown' Dre who replaced Stephney's radio show under the Chuckie D pseudonym.
Def Jam co-founder and producer Rick Rubin heard a tape of "Public Enemy No. 1" and immediately courted Ridenhour in hopes of signing him to his fledgling label. Chuck D initially was reluctant, but he eventually developed a concept for a literally revolutionary hip-hop group -- one that would be driven by sonically extreme productions and socially revolutionary politics. Enlisting Shocklee as his chief producer and Stephney as a label publicist and producer , Chuck D formed a crew with DJ Terminator X (born Norman Lee Rogers, August 25, 1966) and fellow Nation of Islam member Professor Griff (born Richard Griffin) as the choreographer of the group's backup unit, the Security of the First World, whom performed homages to old Stax and Motown dancers with their martial moves and fake Uzis and military drills. He also asked his then radio friend William Drayton (born March 16, 1959) to join as a fellow rapper. Drayton developed an alter-ego called Flavor Flav, who functioned as a court jester to Chuck D's booming voice and somber rhymes in Public Enemy.
Public Enemy's debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released on Def Jam Records in 1987. The album formed from the pattern of RUN-DMCs year before album 'Raising Hell' ,had spare beats and powerful rhetoric and was acclaimed by hip-hop critics and aficionados, but the record was largely ignored by the rock and R&B mainstream. During 1987 the group broke into the market by touring and opening up on the Beastie Boys License to Ill tour for 15 cities replacing the CBS group Fishbone. Opening up that summer doing 15 minute sets on that years Def Jam Tour headlined by LL Cool J, WHodini, Doug E Fresh, Eric B and Rakim and Stetsasonic helped formed their fiery stage shows from May to September. After releasing their break through rap hit ' Rebel Without A Pause' before the summer tour, PE watched that record become their signature of power, message, and noise by summers end, setting the stage for their next aural blast. Asked by Rick Rubin to record a track for a soundtrack for the movie Less Than Zero in September, the original attempt 'Dont Believe The Hype' was canned in favor of a more faster unorthodox 109 beat per minute attempt called 'Bring The Noise' which became the groups motto.
Their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, was impossible to ignore. Created during the months of January-March 1988 after their first international touring of November-December 1987 ,under Shocklee's direction PE's production team the Bomb Squad, developed a dense, chaotic mix that relied as much on found sounds and avant-garde noise as it did on old-school funk. Similarly, Chuck D's rhetoric gained focus and Flavor Flav's raps were wilder and funnier. A Nation of Millions was hailed as revolutionary by both rap and rock critics, and it was -- hip-hop had suddenly became a force for social change. As Public Enemy's profile was raised, they opened themselves up to controversy. In a notorious statement, Chuck D claimed that rap was "the black CNN," relating what was happening in the inner city in a way that mainstream media could not project. Public Enemy's lyrics were naturally dissected in the wake of such a statement, and many critics were uncomfortable with the positive endorsement of Nation Of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan on "Bring the Noise" and later "Dont Believe The Hype." "Fight the Power," Public Enemy's theme for Spike Lee's controversial 1989 film Do the Right Thing, also caused an uproar for its attacks on Elvis Presley and John Wayne, but that was considerably overshadowed by an interview Professor Griff gave The Washington Post that summer. Griffs' comments while said being taken out of context, we're met with shock and outrage, especially by white critics who previously embraced the group. Accused of anti-semitism by the media and thus certain aspects of the public. Faced with a major crisis Chuck D faltered
by firing Griff, closing down the group, bringing him back and then going separate ways after Griff did another interview attacking the group.
All this Public Enemy spent the remainder of 1989 preparing their third album, releasing "Welcome to the Terrordome" as its first single that fall describing the experiences that summer. Again, the hit single caused controversy as its lyrics "still they got me like Jesus" were labeled anti-Semitic by some quarters. Despite all the controversy, Fear of a Black Planet was released to enthusiastic reviews in the spring of 1990, and it shot into the pop Top Ten as the singles "911 Is a Joke," "Brothers Gonna Work It Out," and "Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man" became Top 40 R&B hits. For their next album, 1991's Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black, the group re-recorded "Bring the Noise" with thrash metal band Anthrax. Apocalypse 91 was greeted with overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its fall release, and it debuted at number four on the pop charts, but the band began to lose momentum in 1992 as they toured with the second leg of U2's Zoo TV tour and altered their recorded thinking after a tour of Africa that summer. In the fall of 1992, they released the remix collection Greatest Misses as an attempt to keep their name viable, but it was greeted to nasty reviews by the growing hip hop press. Their lead single 'Hazy Shade Of Criminal' was banned by MTV when Chuck D refused to remove footage re-enacting Philadelphias MOVE bombing of the early 1980s'.
Public Enemy was on productive hiatus during 1993 completing Terminator Xs second solo effort Godfathers Of Threatt after a successful Valley Of The Jeep Beets compilation release in 1991. Returning in the summer of 1994 with Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age , the record was actually slated to be released on SONY that spring but in lieu of DEF JAMs move to Polygram Records Group, the record was immediately caught into a distribution timing crack. Prior to its release, it was subjected to exceedingly negative reviews in Rolling Stone and The Source, which affected the perception of the album considerably. Many of the reviews were very favorable judging Muse as an album not simply a rap record, but the growing rap press had forged its stamp of currency on an album that Chuck D best described as a 'record made for 1999'. In retrospect many ways he seemed to be correct, in its uses of live instruments, various tempo variances, and again controversial topic. Muse Sick debuted at number 14, but it quickly fell off the charts as it failed to generate any singles. Chuck D retired Public Enemy from touring in 1995 as he severed ties with Def Jam, developed his own record label SLAMjamz and publishing company, and attempted to re-think Public Enemy. In 1996, he released his first debut album, The Autobiography of Mistachuck on Mercury Records under Danny Goldberg. As it was released in the fall, he announced that he planned to record a new Public Enemy album the following year. Flavor Flav had issues with the law at that point and welcomed a change back into touring and recording.
Before that record was made, Chuck D published a manifesto of a book fittingly named 'Fight The Power' in the fall of 1997. During 1997, Chuck D reassembled the original Bomb Squad and began work on albums, as the group returned with Professor Griff in stride after a radio station old school reunion concert that year featuring RUN-DMC and KRS-ONE.
In the spring of 1998, Public Enemy kicked off their major comeback with their soundtrack to Spike Lee's He Got Game, which was played more like a proper album than a soundtrack. Upon its April 1998 release, the record received the strongest reviews of any Public Enemy album since Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black. Also that year Public Enemy ended their longest hiatus of touring by headlining that years US summer Smoking Grooves tour featuring Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Busta Rhymes, Wylef Jean and The Black Eyed Peas. PE also toured across the world once again, bringing the noise to many fans who either missed or never saw them.
Surprisingly after 10 years the Public Enemy story thickens and takes a turn into left field, which again has proven to be a group trademark. During the period of Chuck Ds protest of releasing material to Def Jam, he began to realize that since Polygram had acquired 50% of the label he began to work with the reissue and archive departments of the distributor to create new product with Public Enemy catalog. Out of this the cult followed mix-mash Bring The Noise 2000 was created and slated for release in 1997. Legal moves stopped the record , thus PE recorded He Got Game as a contract ending album. However that was only offered after Chuck D threatened to bring Bring The Noise 2000 and other music, straight to the masses via the then newly discovered Internet , which that summer and fall his www.publicenemy.com had grown an international legion of direct followers built up and signed during a result of massive touring. In 1999 Chuck D formed Rapstation.com and signed the group to Al Tellers' innovative and
web-savvy independent Atomic Pop Records.
Before the retail release of Public Enemy's seventh LP, There's a Poison Goin' On..., the label made MP3 files of the album available on the Internet. It finally appeared in stores in July 1999 after being banned by a portion of retail chains in protest. That year also marked the retirement of stellar DJ Terminator X, and immediately his replacement DJ Lord Aswad showed a different world-class DJ approach to the Public Enemy show in support of 'Poison'. The turn of the century showed an addition to the Public Enemy show on a suggestion by Professor Griff inspired by touring hip hop groups with musicians like Cypress Hill, The Roots, and Wyclef Jean the act added a 3 piece set ( called 'PE') to their DJ arrangement. This in essence put their already incendiary show on aural steroids. In essence they became the closest thing to a hip hop jam band , being that Flavor Flav and Professor Griff are also musicians.
After a three-year break from recording and a switch to the In the Paint/ KOCH label, Public Enemy released Revolverlution, a mix of new tracks, remixes, and live cuts. History was made once again by placing their acapellas on www.SLAMjamz.com and allowing the worlds fledging home digital producers to remix the classics in a contest. 2002-2003 Public Enemy toured the earth putting on one of the greatest hip hop shows on the planet. The Revolverlution World Tour put the total tours for Public Enemy at 52 by December of 2003 in Australia. From that point Chuck D put the group on a year and a half tour hiatus to tool the biggest release schedule ever of record releases for the group. The Public Enemy Archive Series was launched issuing and supervising past, present, and future releases cumulating in a Universal boxset in 2007. 2005 ushered in the releasing of their greatest hits called 'Power To The People And The Beats' on Universal, the London Invasion DVD through their own SLAMgypsy Films and the October new studio album released 'New Whirl Odor' through SLAMjamz new distribution and manufacturing deal through REDEYE in the USA and NOCTURNE and PROPER distribution internationally.
With his powerful, authoritative baritone, lead rapper Chuck D rhymed about all kinds of social problems, particularly those plaguing the black community, often condoning revolutionary tactics and social activism. In the process, he directed hip-hop toward an explicitly self-aware, pro-black consciousness that became the culture's signature throughout the next decade. Musically, Public Enemy were just as revolutionary, as their production team, the Bomb Squad, ( Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder Eric 'Vietnam' Sadler and Keith Shocklee) created dense soundscapes that relied on avant-garde cut-and-paste techniques, unrecognizable samples, piercing sirens, relentless beats, and deep funk. It was chaotic and invigorating music, made all the more intoxicating by Chuck D's forceful vocals and the absurdist raps of his comic foil Flavor Flav. With his comic sunglasses and an oversized clock hanging from his neck, Flav became the group's visual focal point, but he never obscured the music. While rap and rock critics embraced the group's late-'80s and early-'90s records, Public Enemy frequently ran into controversy with their militant stance and lyrics, especially after their 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, made them into quasi-celebrities. After all the controversy settled in the early '90s, once the group entered a hiatus, it became clear that Public Enemy were the most influential and radical band of their time.
Chuck D and Hank Shocklee formed the foundations of Public Enemy in 1982, as he was studying graphic design at Adelphi University on Long Island. He had been DJing at the student radio station WBAU, where he and Hank Shocklee met Bill Stephney. All three shared a love of hip-hop and politics, which made them close friends. Shocklee had been assembling hip-hop demo tapes, and Ridenhour occasionally rapped over tracks to promote the radio broadcasts, "Public Enemy No. 1,"was born around the same time he began appearing on Doctor 'Andre Brown' Dre who replaced Stephney's radio show under the Chuckie D pseudonym.
Def Jam co-founder and producer Rick Rubin heard a tape of "Public Enemy No. 1" and immediately courted Ridenhour in hopes of signing him to his fledgling label. Chuck D initially was reluctant, but he eventually developed a concept for a literally revolutionary hip-hop group -- one that would be driven by sonically extreme productions and socially revolutionary politics. Enlisting Shocklee as his chief producer and Stephney as a label publicist and producer , Chuck D formed a crew with DJ Terminator X (born Norman Lee Rogers, August 25, 1966) and fellow Nation of Islam member Professor Griff (born Richard Griffin) as the choreographer of the group's backup unit, the Security of the First World, whom performed homages to old Stax and Motown dancers with their martial moves and fake Uzis and military drills. He also asked his then radio friend William Drayton (born March 16, 1959) to join as a fellow rapper. Drayton developed an alter-ego called Flavor Flav, who functioned as a court jester to Chuck D's booming voice and somber rhymes in Public Enemy.
Public Enemy's debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released on Def Jam Records in 1987. The album formed from the pattern of RUN-DMCs year before album 'Raising Hell' ,had spare beats and powerful rhetoric and was acclaimed by hip-hop critics and aficionados, but the record was largely ignored by the rock and R&B mainstream. During 1987 the group broke into the market by touring and opening up on the Beastie Boys License to Ill tour for 15 cities replacing the CBS group Fishbone. Opening up that summer doing 15 minute sets on that years Def Jam Tour headlined by LL Cool J, WHodini, Doug E Fresh, Eric B and Rakim and Stetsasonic helped formed their fiery stage shows from May to September. After releasing their break through rap hit ' Rebel Without A Pause' before the summer tour, PE watched that record become their signature of power, message, and noise by summers end, setting the stage for their next aural blast. Asked by Rick Rubin to record a track for a soundtrack for the movie Less Than Zero in September, the original attempt 'Dont Believe The Hype' was canned in favor of a more faster unorthodox 109 beat per minute attempt called 'Bring The Noise' which became the groups motto.
Their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, was impossible to ignore. Created during the months of January-March 1988 after their first international touring of November-December 1987 ,under Shocklee's direction PE's production team the Bomb Squad, developed a dense, chaotic mix that relied as much on found sounds and avant-garde noise as it did on old-school funk. Similarly, Chuck D's rhetoric gained focus and Flavor Flav's raps were wilder and funnier. A Nation of Millions was hailed as revolutionary by both rap and rock critics, and it was -- hip-hop had suddenly became a force for social change. As Public Enemy's profile was raised, they opened themselves up to controversy. In a notorious statement, Chuck D claimed that rap was "the black CNN," relating what was happening in the inner city in a way that mainstream media could not project. Public Enemy's lyrics were naturally dissected in the wake of such a statement, and many critics were uncomfortable with the positive endorsement of Nation Of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan on "Bring the Noise" and later "Dont Believe The Hype." "Fight the Power," Public Enemy's theme for Spike Lee's controversial 1989 film Do the Right Thing, also caused an uproar for its attacks on Elvis Presley and John Wayne, but that was considerably overshadowed by an interview Professor Griff gave The Washington Post that summer. Griffs' comments while said being taken out of context, we're met with shock and outrage, especially by white critics who previously embraced the group. Accused of anti-semitism by the media and thus certain aspects of the public. Faced with a major crisis Chuck D faltered
by firing Griff, closing down the group, bringing him back and then going separate ways after Griff did another interview attacking the group.
All this Public Enemy spent the remainder of 1989 preparing their third album, releasing "Welcome to the Terrordome" as its first single that fall describing the experiences that summer. Again, the hit single caused controversy as its lyrics "still they got me like Jesus" were labeled anti-Semitic by some quarters. Despite all the controversy, Fear of a Black Planet was released to enthusiastic reviews in the spring of 1990, and it shot into the pop Top Ten as the singles "911 Is a Joke," "Brothers Gonna Work It Out," and "Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man" became Top 40 R&B hits. For their next album, 1991's Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black, the group re-recorded "Bring the Noise" with thrash metal band Anthrax. Apocalypse 91 was greeted with overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its fall release, and it debuted at number four on the pop charts, but the band began to lose momentum in 1992 as they toured with the second leg of U2's Zoo TV tour and altered their recorded thinking after a tour of Africa that summer. In the fall of 1992, they released the remix collection Greatest Misses as an attempt to keep their name viable, but it was greeted to nasty reviews by the growing hip hop press. Their lead single 'Hazy Shade Of Criminal' was banned by MTV when Chuck D refused to remove footage re-enacting Philadelphias MOVE bombing of the early 1980s'.
Public Enemy was on productive hiatus during 1993 completing Terminator Xs second solo effort Godfathers Of Threatt after a successful Valley Of The Jeep Beets compilation release in 1991. Returning in the summer of 1994 with Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age , the record was actually slated to be released on SONY that spring but in lieu of DEF JAMs move to Polygram Records Group, the record was immediately caught into a distribution timing crack. Prior to its release, it was subjected to exceedingly negative reviews in Rolling Stone and The Source, which affected the perception of the album considerably. Many of the reviews were very favorable judging Muse as an album not simply a rap record, but the growing rap press had forged its stamp of currency on an album that Chuck D best described as a 'record made for 1999'. In retrospect many ways he seemed to be correct, in its uses of live instruments, various tempo variances, and again controversial topic. Muse Sick debuted at number 14, but it quickly fell off the charts as it failed to generate any singles. Chuck D retired Public Enemy from touring in 1995 as he severed ties with Def Jam, developed his own record label SLAMjamz and publishing company, and attempted to re-think Public Enemy. In 1996, he released his first debut album, The Autobiography of Mistachuck on Mercury Records under Danny Goldberg. As it was released in the fall, he announced that he planned to record a new Public Enemy album the following year. Flavor Flav had issues with the law at that point and welcomed a change back into touring and recording.
Before that record was made, Chuck D published a manifesto of a book fittingly named 'Fight The Power' in the fall of 1997. During 1997, Chuck D reassembled the original Bomb Squad and began work on albums, as the group returned with Professor Griff in stride after a radio station old school reunion concert that year featuring RUN-DMC and KRS-ONE.
In the spring of 1998, Public Enemy kicked off their major comeback with their soundtrack to Spike Lee's He Got Game, which was played more like a proper album than a soundtrack. Upon its April 1998 release, the record received the strongest reviews of any Public Enemy album since Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black. Also that year Public Enemy ended their longest hiatus of touring by headlining that years US summer Smoking Grooves tour featuring Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Busta Rhymes, Wylef Jean and The Black Eyed Peas. PE also toured across the world once again, bringing the noise to many fans who either missed or never saw them.
Surprisingly after 10 years the Public Enemy story thickens and takes a turn into left field, which again has proven to be a group trademark. During the period of Chuck Ds protest of releasing material to Def Jam, he began to realize that since Polygram had acquired 50% of the label he began to work with the reissue and archive departments of the distributor to create new product with Public Enemy catalog. Out of this the cult followed mix-mash Bring The Noise 2000 was created and slated for release in 1997. Legal moves stopped the record , thus PE recorded He Got Game as a contract ending album. However that was only offered after Chuck D threatened to bring Bring The Noise 2000 and other music, straight to the masses via the then newly discovered Internet , which that summer and fall his www.publicenemy.com had grown an international legion of direct followers built up and signed during a result of massive touring. In 1999 Chuck D formed Rapstation.com and signed the group to Al Tellers' innovative and
web-savvy independent Atomic Pop Records.
Before the retail release of Public Enemy's seventh LP, There's a Poison Goin' On..., the label made MP3 files of the album available on the Internet. It finally appeared in stores in July 1999 after being banned by a portion of retail chains in protest. That year also marked the retirement of stellar DJ Terminator X, and immediately his replacement DJ Lord Aswad showed a different world-class DJ approach to the Public Enemy show in support of 'Poison'. The turn of the century showed an addition to the Public Enemy show on a suggestion by Professor Griff inspired by touring hip hop groups with musicians like Cypress Hill, The Roots, and Wyclef Jean the act added a 3 piece set ( called 'PE') to their DJ arrangement. This in essence put their already incendiary show on aural steroids. In essence they became the closest thing to a hip hop jam band , being that Flavor Flav and Professor Griff are also musicians.
After a three-year break from recording and a switch to the In the Paint/ KOCH label, Public Enemy released Revolverlution, a mix of new tracks, remixes, and live cuts. History was made once again by placing their acapellas on www.SLAMjamz.com and allowing the worlds fledging home digital producers to remix the classics in a contest. 2002-2003 Public Enemy toured the earth putting on one of the greatest hip hop shows on the planet. The Revolverlution World Tour put the total tours for Public Enemy at 52 by December of 2003 in Australia. From that point Chuck D put the group on a year and a half tour hiatus to tool the biggest release schedule ever of record releases for the group. The Public Enemy Archive Series was launched issuing and supervising past, present, and future releases cumulating in a Universal boxset in 2007. 2005 ushered in the releasing of their greatest hits called 'Power To The People And The Beats' on Universal, the London Invasion DVD through their own SLAMgypsy Films and the October new studio album released 'New Whirl Odor' through SLAMjamz new distribution and manufacturing deal through REDEYE in the USA and NOCTURNE and PROPER distribution internationally.
