Public Enemy: Classic or Dud?

There’s a lot of great stuff on There’s a Poison Going On too, which people miss because it’s like their fourth slept-on release in a row at that point

I love this beat

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62nCe2a1zsc

There’s A Poison sounds like it was recorded on styrofoam

GREAT track, but I was surprised to find that "Harder Than You Think" hit #4 on the UK singles chart, which makes it PE's highest charting single there. (And it did it five years after it was released.)

^ when it was used as the theme to Paralympics coverage on UK television

Still going through late era PE. I would add 2012's "Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp" as another keeper - Chuck's physically sounding a bit older, but he still has a commanding authority. 2002's "Revolverlution" is a mixed bag by design, but throw out the four fan remixes and the live cuts weighing it down and it's probably another keeper. I'm going to miss Flav's levity and absurdity on these records, and he's still an underrated multi-instrumentalist.

Turns out, Flavor Flav's firing was an elaborate hoax to promote a new album, LOUD IS NOT ENOUGH, that was dropping on April Fools' Day (today).

Posted yesterday on March 31: https://www.enemyradio.net/news/a-hoax-that-aint-no-joke

More here: https://pitchfork.com/news/chuck-d-says-flavor-flavs-public-enemy-firing-was-staged-to-promote-new-song-and-album/

🙄

um.

I had watched Orson Welles’ ‘War Of The Worlds’ from 1938 when he pulled the wool over the public’s eyes as they put 100% belief in the technology of radio. Most people followed like a Pavlovic dog just like they do now.

"I believed a fictional press release about people being unable to tell fiction from news, so I made up some fiction and pretended it was news, and then put out a press release about it, to prove that people are as stupid as me ermm, everyone else but me."

I’m not sayin’ it’s a hoax, I’m sayin’ that the original intention is to get your attention and not play attention, but get you to pay attention.”

idk Carlton man, this is a little too coherent. can I suggest How You Pay Attention To An Attentionless People Who Ain't Play Attention? Get Talkin' To Get 'Em Torqued Up With Intentional Tension

even viewed through the most charitable lens, this is phenomenally bad timing

Oh dear

sic lol

is chuck advising that we... don’t believe the hype

This is the funniest fucking thing, rivaled only by the title of one of the songs on the album being "STD (Slavery Transmitted Disease)"

Wait, all the reasons they gave for firing Flav were tru tho

I mean I'm glad tho

I feel like this album release could itself be an April Fool's prank inasmuch as it's a latter day Public Enemy album whose title somehow fails to read like it was whipped up by a gaggle of college freshmen getting super high in their dorm room.

Luau Dis Naughty 'Nuff, surely.

it's so sad to see this band that were just absolute titans reduced to this

it's a latter day Public Enemy album

It’s an “Enemy Radio” album, there’s a loophole there...

Also, not to fact-check Chuck D, but he may be off-bass* on the subject of public credulity around the War of the Worlds broadcast.

*my phone made this typo and I’m gonna keep it, seems appropriate here

idk Carlton man, this is a little too coherent. can I suggest How You Pay Attention To An Attentionless People Who Ain't Play Attention? Get Talkin' To Get 'Em Torqued Up With Intentional Tension

fuck lol

can we please just turn this into a thread of speculative future Public Enemy album titles

How Much Flav Would a Chuck D. Chuck If a Chuck D. Would Chuck Flav?

never mind

lol

haaaaa

Wait, wait, wait ... how do we know that the reveal that it was supposedly all a satirical social media prank is itself *not* the satirical social media prank, and that Flav *was* fired and this is all a ruse to trick us into thinking he *wasn't* fired and is still in the group!?!!"!

This is like the opposite of a deepfake.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a retcon on Chuck's part... the "prank" claim doesn't make a lot of sense, in light of the timing, how it played out, etc.

I don't believe a word of it

History shouldn't be a mystery.

lol creative cover Chuck just take LL's artwork and photoshop Enemy Radio on it

Chuck D was interviewed by HipHopDX beforehand and it's a much better read than the official statement. Chuck actually makes a lot of good points, and at least the prank makes more sense in the context given here.

https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.55227/title.public-enemys-chuck-d-flavor-flav-blast-april-fools-day

People would take it serious, but I’m saying, ‘No, I’m attacking the fact y’all were gullible and fell for it.”

Also, people were insisting the very thing that Chuck is affirming now — namely, that you can’t “fire” Flav from PE, as he’s a core partner. They were saying that to Chuck and Flav on Twitter! And now Chuck’s like, “Yeah, I played you guys...”(?)

I'm interested in seeing how everyone reacts after looking back at the "finally Chuck saw how much of a coon Flavor Flav was" rhetoric swirling around after the original announcement

so does flav LIKE bernie
circle one: y/n/maybe

Chuck is so full of shit right now

xp According to Chuck in that interview, Flav was legitimately pissed off and the C&D letter was real.

even viewed through the most charitable lens, this is phenomenally bad timing

― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, April 1, 2020 6:24 AM (eleven hours ago)

tbh i kinda really appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of this story right now

lol creative cover Chuck just take LL's artwork and photoshop Enemy Radio on it

lock

oops

lock them up

i like the Enemy Radio logo

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/5e7aba61b2e1486cd44199dd/1585631399399-68KUMYMA7P2QPFLA5T7R/Asset+17.png?content-type=image%2Fpng

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/5e7aba61b2e1486cd44199dd/1585631399399-68KUMYMA7P2QPFLA5T7R/Asset+17.png

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/5e7aba61b2e1486cd44199dd/1585631399399-68KUMYMA7P2QPFLA5T7R/Asset+17.png

no shit sic

(it's not the same box as on LL's album, let alone the artwork)

a lot of the beats on this are p nice