176. Public Enemy, "Fear of a Black Planet"

 


So much of the music of 1990 - when this album came out - sounds dated, but this incredible record still sounds as urgent and vital as the day it came out.  A searing indictment of a country founding on inequality and oppression, it practically predicts the Rodney King riots, which would occur almost exactly two years after the April 1990 release of this album.  

The album is built on the Bomb Squad's production, which used literally hundreds of samples to build up a hip hop Wall of Sound (no wonder Chuck D. called Hank Shocklee the "Phil Spector of hip-hop"), a dense, multilayered sound, constantly shifting and breaking apart and reintegrating.  It's propulsive and thumping and also musical and carefully orchestrated.  A lot of people have said it wouldn't be possible any more because so many of the samples weren't cleared, and that's probably the case.

Then there's the rapping.  Prominently featuring Chuck D and Flava Flav, the rhymes aren't as intricate as some you'll hear, but they are perfectly suited to the music.  The album is a call to arms, and the lyrics reflect that.  From "911 Is a Joke," one of the singles:

Everyday they don't never come correct
You can ask my man right here with the broken neck
He's a witness to the job never bein' done
He would've been in full in 8 9-11
Was a joke 'cause they always jokin'
They the token to your life when it's croakin'
They need to be in a pawn shop on a
911 is a joke we don't want 'em
I call a cab 'cause a cab will come quicker
The doctors huddle up and call a flea flicker
The reason that I say that 'cause they
Flick you off like fleas

The whole song is a perfect example of what I'm talking about; it's thickly layered with samples from everything from "Thriller" to slices of Eddie Murphy jokes to "Flash Light" by Parliament.  Unusually for the album, Flav handles the lead vocals, but his perpetually sneering, ironic voice is perfect for the song.  Meanwhile, "Welcome to the Terrordome," another single, has around 20 samples, and like half of those are James Brown songs.  Chuck D delivers maybe one of his best performances, absolutely jamming his flow out.  

It's weak to speak and blame somebody else
When you destroy yourself
First nothing's worse than a mother's pain
Of a son slain in Bensonhurst
Can't wait for the state to decide the fate
So this jam I dedicate
Places with racist faces
Just an example of one of many cases

Was this record influential?  No question.  Could it be duplicated?  Not in a million years.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Yes.

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