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Revision as of 21:09, 21 November 2004 by TimMony (talk | contribs) (Minor prose change)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)- See The Public Enemy for the 1931 movie and Public Enemy (documentary) for the 1999 Black Panthers documentary film.
Public Enemy are a seminal rap group which formed in Long Island, New York in 1982. They were signed on to the still developing Def Jam record label after Rick Rubin heard Chuck D freestyling on a demo. It took the group roughly five years, before their debut, Yo! Bum Rush The Show in 1987 to critical acclaim. They went to release the revolutionary It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in 1988, which performed better in the charts than their previous release. They also went on to release Fear of a Black Planet which was slightly less militant than their first two releases.
It can be said that Public Enemy were controversial yet pioneers in many ways. For instance, Terminator X made DJing into a fine art, some of his most innovative scratching tricks utilised can be heard on the song "Rebel Without A Pause". They revolutionized the rap world with their political, social and cultural consciousness, which infused itself into skilled and poetic rhymes with jazzy backbeats. They also changed the Internet's music distribution capability by being the first group to release MP3 albums, a format virtually unknown at the time.
However, they were also infamous for their alignment with S1W (Security Of the First World), a militant black power movement. Also, Professor Griff, a member of the group, made many anti-Semitic remarks and as a result was ejected from the band, and the group featured in an FBI report to Congress with observed and examined "Rap Music and Its Effects on National Security".
They still continue to perform and write, but Terminator X took early retirement, now Atlanta native DJ Lord takes his place as the group's main DJ. Chuck D also heads a band named Confrontation Camp, a confrontational funk/rock band. In 2004, Flavor Flav appeared on the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life.
Members
- Chuck D - Real name: Carlton Ridenhour
- Flavor Flav - Real name: William Drayton
- Professor Griff - Real name: Richard Griffin
- Terminator X - Real name: Norman Rogers
- Hank Shocklee
- Bill Stephany
Samples
- Download sample of "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Discography
- Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987)
- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
- Fight the Power...Live! (1989)
- Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
- Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black (1991)
- Greatest Misses 1986-1992 (1992)
- Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994)
- He Got Game (1998)
- BTN 2000 (online released mega-mix which initialized PE's leaving Def Jam records) (1999)
- There's A Poison Goin On (1999)
- Revolverlution (2002)
- There's A Poison Goin On (worldwide re-release via Slamjamz.com) (2004)
External links
- Public Enemy's official website
- Slam Jamz, Chuck D's online record label