Public Enemy
| Public Enemy | |
|---|---|
 Public Enemy 2007 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Long Island , New York , United States |
| Genre (s) | East coast hip-hop , conscious rap , hardcore rap |
| founding | 1982 |
| Website | www.publicenemy.com |
| Founding members | |
| Chuck D | |
| Flavor Flav | |
| Terminator X | |
rapper |
Professor handle |
| The S1W | |
| Current occupation | |
rapper |
Chuck D |
rapper |
Professor Griff (1987–1989, since 1998) |
DJ |
DJ Lord (since 1999) |
| former members | |
rapper |
Flavor Flav (1982-2020) |
DJ |
Terminator X (1987-1999) |
| The bomb squad | |
Public Enemy is a hip hop group that was one of the most influential bands on the American rap scene in the late 1980s . The texts of the formation are very socially critical in terms of content and their appearances with bodyguards, the S1W's (Security of the First World) in mercenary look , in the style of public protest events often triggered a strong response in the media.
history
Rick Rubin , one of the co-founders of Def Jam Recordings , received a demo recording from Chuck D in the mid-1980s, which he liked so much that he wanted to sign him right away. After Chuck D had established some artistic clarity and a crew (consisting of the DJ Terminator X, the dancers Security of the First World, Professor Griff, who was responsible for the choreography, and the second rapper of the formation, Flavor Flav, an old friend of Chuck D), he agreed to sign a contract with the Def Jam label. Public Enemy was born.
In 1987, Public Enemy's first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show , published and well received by most of the critics. The get-up of the album was accompanied by the Public Enemy famous symbol (a black man in a crosshair). The album sold a million copies within a year and got a gold record .
The next album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988), is one of the most important publications of hip-hop, which is partly due to the revolutionary sampling art of the Bomb Squad . Hip-hop was to change fundamentally through the political texts. The album even reached platinum status, as did the follow-up Fear of a Black Planet , which is artistically just as highly regarded. The album contains an enormous number of samples that even overshadow its predecessor It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back . The song Fight the Power and the accompanying video are considered a milestone in hip hop music.
Another milestone was the collaboration with the thrash metal band Anthrax and the resulting track Bring the Noise (released on the Public Enemy album Apocalypse 91 ... the Enemy strikes black ). Bring tha Noize is one of the first crossover tracks. Public Enemy also played the song Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos together at Rage Against the Machine concerts .
The album Apocalypse 91 ... the Enemy strikes black was released in 1991. Of all Public Enemy albums, it reached the best chart position in the Billboard charts (number 4) and also reached platinum status. Shortly before the album was finished, the price of the sampling was increased by a court order, thus the number of samples on this album was also reduced, as the costs would have been enormous if not unaffordable with a number of samples like the previous ones. Despite the rather small number of samples, the group's 1991 work continued to receive high artistic praise. To this day, this album is considered the last milestone of the group by public enemy fans and critics.
To bridge the gap to the next album, the mixtape Greatest Misses was released in 1993 , which received a gold record. During this time there were personal arguments in the group. The mixtape contains remixes of old hits, various live recordings and six previously unreleased original pieces that did not make it onto the older albums.
The album Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age , released in 1994, was able to get a gold award in the USA, but, contrary to its predecessor, it missed the top ten of the charts. Back then, the release was repeatedly postponed and pushed forward, so that soon none of the fans knew exactly when the album would actually be released. For the first time there was bad criticism for a work by Public Enemy. The single Give it Up was still praised, but there was too much filler material on the album. In the next few years it became musically silent about Public Enemy.
In 1996 Chuck D released his first solo album Autobiography of Mistachuck , which was not released via Def Jam, but via Mercury. The album was received positively.
In 1998, Spike Lee asked the group to record a soundtrack for his film He Got Game . The song For What It's Worth , written by Stephen Stills , formed the musical basis for this, and he also appeared in the group's music video. The soundtrack was able to celebrate some chart successes, but not build on old times. The album received more praise from the critics. In addition, ex-member Professor Griff came back to the group.
In 1999 Public Enemy left the Def Jam label and released the albums independently in the future. However, the group's DJ, Terminator X, left the group that year and still has an ostrich farm in South Carolina to this day. DJ Lord replaces him to this day.
Public Enemy, especially Chuck D, recognized the Internet as an independent sales channel early on and is still musically active. The first album available as MP3 download from Public Enemy was 1999, There's a Poison Goin 'On . However, the album flopped in the charts and did not reach any placement.
Public Enemy has been on a major, worldwide live tour every year since 2000. In 2002, the album Revolverlution was released , which entered the charts again, but achieved a poor placement. The album received mediocre ratings. There are also many remixes and live recordings on the album.
The 2005 album New Whirl Odor attracted attention mainly because of the song MKLVFKWR ("Make Love, Fuck War"; featuring Moby) , but it still failed to achieve great commercial success. From 2005 Flavor Flav became better known on public television again through his own TV show Flavor of Love . In 2006 both Flavor Flav's solo debut Hollywood and a compilation album by the group with rapper Paris, Rebirth of a Nation, were released . There are more features on the album than on other Public Enemy albums.
The last Public Enemy record so far was How you sell Soul to a soulless People who sold their Soul from 2007. It received positive reviews from the critics, and the album was even celebrated by the fans (which is especially true of the single Harder Than You Think lies). The group was also credited with being relatively active in the music scene despite their relatively old age. In addition, Public Enemy would not pay attention to the commerciality of its albums, but confidently defend its style.
In November 2008, the first album by the band Science Faxtion was released, on which Chuck D. also took part.
In 2009, Public Enemy began to raise funds for another album directly from the fans at Sellaband . The initial goal was a sum of 250,000 US dollars. The total turned out to be too ambitious a goal. As a result, the amount was reduced to $ 75,000. Finally, on October 28, 2010, due to changes at Sellaband, a budget of 59,100 euros was reached.
In the summer of 2010, a box set (consisting of all independent albums, a T-shirt and other fan merchandising) was presented on the Public Enemy website. It was also announced that the American rock band Linkin Park plans to dedicate their album A Thousand Suns to Public Enemy.
After a dispute over an election campaign appearance for Bernie Sanders , Chuck D released Flavor Flav from the band after 38 years in early March 2020.
influence
- Public Enemy's first three albums are considered milestones. Yo! Bum Rush the Show , It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet are featured on lists of major hip-hop albums; For example, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back has 48th place for a hip-hop album on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best albums of all time . Apocalypse 91 ... was included in The Wire's "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)" list. The Rolling Stone Public Enemy also listed it at number 44 of the 100 greatest musicians of all time - the highest ranking of a hip-hop artist.
- Public Enemy was the first rap group to go on extensive world tours, which further increased the popularity of the group in the then still small hip-hop communities in Europe and Asia. The Britcore style that emerged in the 1990s and the generally more political stance of hip-hop, which was predominant in Europe at the beginning of the 1990s, may at least partly result from this.
- Public Enemy was one of the first bands to offer an album as an MP3 download over the Internet. The first album of this kind was the album There's a Poison Goin 'On in 1999 .
- Chuck D's rap style with the mixture as the mouthpiece of a troubled minority and the simultaneous telling of his own bad experiences should shape many subsequent rappers. His political views can be read in his book Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality (1998).
- Prince called Fight the Power (1989) one of 55 songs that inspired him musically.
Content
In terms of content, the rap songs repeatedly dealt with the rights of blacks in the USA ( Fight the Power ), drug problems ( Night of the living Baseheads ), excessive television consumption ( Channel Zero ) and the racist tendencies in Hollywood ( Burn Hollywood Burn ). Eventually it got to the point that Professor Griff had to leave the band because of anti-Semitic statements. But band spokesman Chuck D. also supported z. Similar statements by the Nation of Islam and its leader Louis Farrakhan . After a few years, Griff was taken back to the Public Enemy. Chuck D , who referred to rap as CNN 's blacks , is considered one of the most important political rappers.
Members
Public Enemy consisted of the following members:
- Chuck D. is the MC who was born Carlton Ridenhour on August 1, 1960 in Roosevelt , Long Island , New York , USA .
- Flavor Flav is the MC and hypeman who was born William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. on March 16, 1959 in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York, USA. Flav was already an old friend of Chuck D when he asked him to join his hip-hop group. Flav, with his crazy looks and funny demeanor, is the exact contrast to Chuck D's harsh texts and demeanor.
- Terminator X is the DJ who was born Norman Rogers on August 25, 1966.
- DJ Lord is the new DJ and replaces Terminator X.
- Professor Griff was born Richard Griffin on August 1, 1960. After his temporary exclusion, Sister Souljah was part of the band.
- The S1W's (The Security of the First World) are Brother Pop Diezel, Brother James Bomb, Brother Roger and Brother Mike.
- The Bomb Squad (long the production team of Public Enemy), consisting of Hank Shocklee, Keith Shocklee, Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, Carlton Ridenhour (as Carl Ryder), Bill Stephney et al.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1987 | Yo! Bum rush the show | - | - | - | - |
US125  (12 weeks)US |
First published: Jan 26, 1987
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1988 | It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back | - | - | - |
UK8th (9 weeks)UK |
US42  (51 weeks)US |
First published: April 19, 1988
Sales: + 1,100,000 |
| 1990 | Fear of a Black Planet |
DE30 (17 weeks) DE |
- |
CH19 (5 weeks) CH |
UK4th (10 weeks)UK |
US10 (27 weeks)US |
First published: March 20, 1990
Sales: +1,150,000 |
| 1991 | Apocalypse 91 ... The Enemy Strikes Black |
DE38 (10 weeks) DE |
- |
CH33 (2 weeks) CH |
UK8th  (7 weeks)UK |
US4th (37 weeks)US |
First published: October 1, 1991
Sales: + 1,110,000 |
| 1994 | Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age |
DE25 (9 weeks) DE |
AT27 (3 weeks) AT |
CH22 (7 weeks) CH |
UK12 (4 weeks) UK |
US14th (8 weeks)US |
First published: August 23, 1994
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1999 | There's a poison goin 'on |
DE66 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK55 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: July 20, 1999
|
| 2002 | Revolver loss | - | - | - | - |
US110 (4 weeks) US |
First published: July 23, 2002
|
| 2005 | New Whirl Odor | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: November 1, 2005
|
| 2006 | Rebirth of a Nation | - | - | - | - |
US180 (1 week) US |
First published: March 7, 2006
with Paris |
| 2007 | How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul ??? | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: August 7, 2007
|
| 2012 | Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: July 13, 2012
|
| The Evil Empire of Everything | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: October 1, 2012
|
|
| 2015 | Man Plans God Laughs | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: July 27, 2015
|
| 2017 | Nothing Is Quick in the Desert | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: June 29, 2017
|
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1992 | Greatest Misses |
DE53 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK14 (3 weeks) UK |
US13 (14 weeks)US |
First published: September 15, 1992
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 2001 | 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Public Enemy |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: June 19, 2001
|
| 2005 | Power to the People and the Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits |
- | - | - |
UK39 (4 weeks)UK |
US69 (1 week) US |
First published: August 2, 2005
|
| Beats and Places | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: November 8, 2005
|
|
| 2013 | Planet Earth: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Greatest Rap Hits |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: April 22, 2013
|
Soundtracks
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1998 | He got game |
DE81 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK50 (4 weeks) UK |
US26 (10 weeks) US |
First published: April 21, 1998
|
Live albums
- 2005: It Takes a Nation: The First London Invasion Tour 1987
- 2006: MKL VF KWR - Revolverlution Tour Manchester UK 2003
- 2007: Fight the Power: Greatest Hits Live!
Remix albums
- 2006: Bring That Beat Back
- 2007: Remix of a Nation (with Paris )
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1987 | You're Gonna Get Yours Yo! Bum rush the show |
- | - | - |
UK88 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Rebel Without a Pause It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back |
- | - | - |
UK37 (8 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1988 | Bring the Noise It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back |
- | - | - |
UK32 (5 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Don't Believe the Hype It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back |
- | - | - |
UK18 (5 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Night of the Living Baseheads It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back |
- | - | - |
UK63 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1989 | Fight the Power Fear of a Black Planet |
- | - | - |
UK29 (5 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1990 | Welcome to the Terrordome Fear of a Black Planet |
- | - | - |
UK18 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Brothers Gonna Work It Out Fear of a Black Planet |
- | - | - |
UK46 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 911 Is a Joke Fear of a Black Planet |
- | - |
CH25 (1 week) CH |
UK41 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Can't Do Nuttin 'for Ya Man Fear of a Black Planet |
- | - | - |
UK53 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1991 | Can't Truss It Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black |
- | - | - |
UK22 (4 weeks) UK |
US50 (15 weeks)US |
Sales: + 500,000
|
| Shut 'Em Down Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black |
- | - | - |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1992 | Nighttrain Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black |
- | - | - |
UK55 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1993 | I Stand Accused / What Kind of Power We Got? Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age |
- | - | - |
UK77 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 1994 | Give It Up Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age |
- | - |
CH37 (5 weeks) CH |
UK18 (3 weeks) UK |
US33 (14 weeks) US |
|
| 1995 | So Whatcha Gonna Do Now? Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age |
- | - | - |
UK50 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1998 | He Got Game He Got Game - Soundtrack |
DE70 (7 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK16 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
feat. Stephen Stills
|
| 1999 | Do You Wanna Go Our Way ??? There's a poison goin 'on |
- | - | - |
UK66 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2007 | Harder Than You Think How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul ??? |
- | - | - |
UK4th (14 weeks)UK |
- | |
Video albums
- 1989: Fight the Power… Live! (US:gold)
- 1991: Tour of a Black Planet
- 1992: The Enemy Strikes Live
- 2005: It Takes a Nation: The First London Invasion Tour 1987
Solo albums by the band members
- 1990: Professor Griff & The Last Asiatic Disciples - Pawns in the Game
- 1991: Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets - [same]
- 1991: Professor Griff - Kao's II Wiz * 7 * Dome
- 1992: Professor Griff - Disturb N tha Peace
- 1992: Sister Souljah - 360 Degrees of Power
- 1994: Terminator X & The Godfathers of Threatt - Super Bad
- 1996: Chuck D - Autobiography of Mistachuck
- 1998: Professor Griff - Blood of the Profit
- 2000: Confrontation Camp (Chuck D & Professor Griff) - Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
- 2001: Professor Griff - And the Word Became Flesh
- 2003: Fine Arts Militia (Chuck D-Projekt) - We Are Gathered Here
- 2004: Professor Griff & the 7th Octave - The Seventh Degree
- 2006: Flavor Flav - Hollywood
Awards for music sales
-
Canada
- 1990: for the album Fear of a Black Planet
- 1991: for the album Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
|
Canada (MC)
|
- |
2 × gold2
|
- | 100,000 | musiccanada.com |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
- |
5 × gold5
|
3 × platinum3
|
5,050,000 | riaa.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × silver2
|
3 × gold3
|
- | 720,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
2 × silver2
|
10 × gold10
|
3 × platinum3
|
||
Web links
- Official website
- Public Enemy at Allmusic (English)
- Public Enemy at Discogs (English)
- Public Enemy Online Museum on Facebook [1]
Individual evidence
- ↑ kersten-online.com ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ rap.de ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ dmwmedia.com
- ↑ Congratulation Public Enemy ( page no longer accessible , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ publicenemy.com ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ www.fan-lexikon.de
- ↑ Now comes the expulsion: Flavor Flav is no longer a member of Public Enemy . In: musikexpress.de of March 2, 2020.
- ^ Rollingstone.com
- ↑ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Chart positions: DE AT CH UK US
