It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, part 1

From "Countdown" to "Countdown to Armageddon"...

Recently I had the privilege to watch a documentary on the most influential, longest running, and all-around-pound-for-pound BEST Hip-Hop group ever... Public Enemy. This program, Prophets of Rage, by BBC was very well informed and intriguing to watch. I have long wondered would someone do a credible documentary on P.E. and their influence on modern music. Well, this documentary did a good job of just that. As a result, I was inspired to go back and listen to their second album; the Greatest Hip-Hop album ever made... and that's not just Hype.

I listened to the masterpiece from front to back. So many memories flooded my mind, as I listened. I remember the first time I ever heard it; my cousin came home from college and had a 90 minute cassette tape with it on one side. It cut off before the album was complete. There would be a span of a year before I could hear the complete album as it was meant to be heard. I remember hearing "Bring the Noise", "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic", "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" and "Rebel Without a Pause" all with separate distinct memories. I was instantly transported to a time when Hip-Hop was still innocent and at a cross-roads, of sorts. This was when it became evident that the art form could really be more than just party music and clever boasting rhymes. Public Enemy took it to another level, and this album, in particular, is the flagship of what Hip-Hop could be. There will never be another like it.

Why is this album such a seminal master work? What is it about it that makes it important, lasting, exemplary, and gripping? Well, there's several reasons and to explore them all could easily result in a full scale book, so I'll scale it back and focus on three ideas: 1) the lyrics & message, 2) the music and sound, and 3) the personification of the group.

Let's star off with the group's personification. At first glance, most people who were unaware of the group typically ask, "who is the public enemy?" The answer is simply the Blackman in America. Now, that's a broad statement, I know, however, let's narrow it down a bit. More specifically, the Blackman who is intelligent and knowledgeable about his origins, culture, history, and, most importantly, his place in and relationship to the society he lives in. The group as a whole represents this Public Enemy... this Invisible Man. Being that the entirety of the population of Black men are not the same, so too for those in the specific category being represented by the group. To this effect, the group offers all the spectrum of Blackman variations which are found in the P.E. logo. Chuck D, the leader and lead vocalist is the outspoken, wide awake man. He's studious, learned, cautious and patient. Professor Griff is the outspoken Blackman, who is completely unapologetic in his views, and he utilizes his freedom of speech (however tenuous it may be) to the fullest extent possible. The S1Ws are the silent majority. Most knowledgeable Black men are nowhere near as vocal as Chuck or Griff. Terminator X and the Bomb Squad are the silent engineers of the movement. They represent the technical know-how of the people, and also are not so much heard as felt. Their impact is through their contributions to the culture and their people. They are the teachers and entrepreneurs. Then there's Flavor Flav. Somebody save Flavor Flav. (Wait... I'll get back to that idea...) Flav is the inner city Blackman... the 5 Percenter (for those of you who know what I'm referring to)... with a lot of knowledge, but no discipline. He's a loud mouth, definitely, however underneath all the silly, clown, bullshit... he really knows what's going on. He's there to support the movement, as spearheaded by Chuck and Griff, by the use of his crazy, unorthodox, paradoxical behavior. It is sometimes surreal... however, it is a mixture that works.

In part two, I'll explore the lyrics and music of this fabulous album, song by song. Until then, enjoy this sample of the greatest Hip-Hop album ever.



Prophets of Rage (video on youtube)