Public Enemy: Classic or Dud?

I just bought that JB's album this week! Boy was I surprised when that snippet came through my speakers.

I know! I always figured it was some kind of electronic gear abuse - a soundboard feeding back or some shit.

I went to the beach, the ground was all sandy

Actually, it's "I got to the beach, the ground was all sandy/Girlies on my jock like ants on candy." And so, so unfair that Flav's solo tracks (except for "911 Is A Joke") didn't make the best-of.

the lyric is genius. you can say just about anything, my mind will supply the punchline, and it will still sound good:

I got shot up, the ground was all sandy...
I went to mcdonald's, the ground was all sandy...
your mamma's a bitch, the ground was all sandy...

truly one of the all-time great rap images.

Seriously? No discussion anywhere of the new album?

How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul is possibly their worst album title, which is saying something.

Seriously. If they'd put out one single record with a good title in the last ten years, I'd get all excited and interested and buy it, instead of thinking "another insanely convoluted unfunny pun? oh Chuck." and avoiding.

I did buy the Make Love Fuck War single though.

1. "How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul"
2. "Black is Back"
3. "Harder Than You Think"
4. "Between Hard and a Rock Place"
5. "Sex, Drugs & Violence" (featuring KRS-One)
6. "Amerikan Gangster" (featuring E.Infinite)
7. "Can You Hear Me Now"
8. "Head Wide Shut"
9. "Flavor Man"
10. "The Enemy Battle Hymn of the Public"
11. "Escapism"
12. "Frankenstar"
13. "Col-Leepin"
14. "Radiation of a Radiotvmovie"
15. "See Something, Say Something"
16. "Long and Whining Road"
17. "Bridge of Pain"
18. "Eve of Destruction"
19. "How You Sell Soul (Time is God Refrain)"

generic titles

How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul is possibly their worst album title, which is saying something.

oh, chuck d-paws.

Classic or dud, Chuck D calling his band "Confrontation Camp?"

Great music, too bad about the fluffery of the racist, crackpot Nation of Islam

The best thing Chuck D ever did was Forthright MC.

have not heard this at all!!

I vote "Classic", of course.

"Fear Of A Black Planet" is the best Rap album I've ever heard. I essentially stopped buying Hip-Hop records after that came out, because ... well, what was the point? No one was ever going to top it.

FAKE

How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul is possibly their worst album title, which is saying something.

They will never top Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age, nor will anyone else.

It's bad, but it's not nearly as bad as Revolverlution, which is just stupid.

they were great last night.

god I'd love to see them.
my uncle told me he saw 'em back in like '86 or something in Minneapolis, one of only a few white people there. when the firt beat dropped the entire place jumped to it in unison and knocked the needle off the record. they had to stop and be like, "ummm, we're gonna don this again, and you can all dance, but don't every body jump at once alright?"

*"don this again"

I think they were the only black guys there last night. People were really into it, though, and they claimed they always love playing my town.

WAIT. What does this entire thread MEAN?
Are you going to throw away Public Enemy based on one or two debatably good or bad albums or what? I'm seriously confused. For sure they are classic and not 'everyone likes them' but if you're gonna say oh NWA or Public Enemy which is better, people'd be more likely to say Public Enemy. They may not be all that relevant any more but STILL.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll303/dangerouslife/jcole03.gif

who cares if their influence hasnt been that pronounced? they made some of the best rap records and were one of the best groups EVER - isnt that enough? people are unfairly cruel/cynical when it comes to PE, like theyre judging all their achievements through the prism of modern hip hop.

PE are heroes, a lot of PE boosters, not so much.

WAIT. What does this entire thread MEAN?
Are you going to throw away Public Enemy based on one or two debatably good or bad albums or what? I'm seriously confused. For sure they are classic and not 'everyone likes them' but if you're gonna say oh NWA or Public Enemy which is better, people'd be more likely to say Public Enemy. They may not be all that relevant any more but STILL.

-- VeronaInTheClub, Monday, 26 May 2008 18:11 (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

http://www.stanford.edu/group/sfs/ssff/2007ssff/sockpuppet2.jpg

Not one of mine.

I entirely resent that picture...but why I'm not sure. I meant to say....Public Enemy are classic, they have been the platform for many, many a rap group and with good reason, they represented consistently and yes may not always have done so effortlessly but you could say that about a lot of classics from Wu Tang Clan to Common the fact remains that they are a seminal rap group and without them...
So why throw them away based on one or two albums? Definite keepers.

a lot of people seem to smirk about PE. its like 'hahaha those revolutionary guys'.

"Why do people always have to say theye were the greatest ROCK group or couch them in rock terminology? That really pisses me off."

ditto. although the second album was definitely produced in a more rocky way than the first one, which was much 'tighter' as far as how the beats were layered.

i'm shocked to learn that the pinefox has even heard public enemy.

Pretty fucking unreal live show, even in their mid-40s. Two thumbs way way up

They were amazing at Primavera - I was in tears, it was almost too much. Incomparable with other gigs, just...wow.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120201455.html

correction

A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.

LOL

fuck "Hazy Shade of Criminal" is so hot; you can hear something ending, it's true; but the mix is like when you hook a video camera to a television and shine the former into the latter: it sounds as deep as infinity, noises going down down down in shrinking focus, like you'd understand the significance of the song if you could just hear it a little closer

"The mistake made with P.E., though, is in seeing them as hip-hop perfected"

well yeah. pre-internet, (in the uk at least) nation was like the citizen kane of rap albums, the album most likely to come in at number one for best rap albums ever, or most likely to feature in best albums ever lists in rock mags (along with 3 feet high), which made it sort of daunting, but these days, with all the golden age coverage on the net that from what ive seen ranks others like rakim or krs more highly, pe seem almost underrated. obv not cool to see them as 'hip hop perfected' at the expense of everyone else, but they do kinda achieve a lot of if not all of hip hop (of that time at least)'s 'ideals', ie political but still funky, sampling pushed to the limits, etc etc.

There was a point (late 80s, early 90s) where I dismissed a lot of great hip hop for not being as ground-breaking/political/high bpms as Public Enemy. Got over that tho.

yeah, for a long time, well maybe until they started to fall off around 93/94, i think they WERE seen as hip hop perfected. which is understandable. though maybe more understandable if you were at least into other hip hop.

the "performing Fear Of A Black Planet in full" tour contains at least as many Nation Of Millions songs as Black Planet songs

Probably a better idea than a new Public Enemy album in 2011, admittedly.

that's a link, btw

I met Chuck D at CBGBs once. I told him I liked PE before Scott Ian told me to. I don't think he believed me though.

http://archivedmusicpress.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/public-enemy-live-at-the-brixton-academy-and-other-live-reviews-12th-december-1987.jpg

^grimey simey poopooing them in 87

There was a point (late 80s, early 90s) where I dismissed a lot of great hip hop for not being as ground-breaking/political/high bpms as Public Enemy. Got over that tho.

understand the consternation, but understandable. a lot of rockist-inspired guilt surrounding PE these days.

well yeah. pre-internet, (in the uk at least) nation was like the citizen kane of rap albums, the album most likely to come in at number one for best rap albums ever, or most likely to feature in best albums ever lists in rock mags (along with 3 feet high), which made it sort of daunting, but these days, with all the golden age coverage on the net that from what ive seen ranks others like rakim or krs more highly, pe seem almost underrated. obv not cool to see them as 'hip hop perfected' at the expense of everyone else, but they do kinda achieve a lot of if not all of hip hop (of that time at least)'s 'ideals', ie political but still funky, sampling pushed to the limits, etc etc.

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, January 24, 2011 5:54 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

i don't know why everyone saying something is great is 'daunting' tbh!

nor do i remember people saying it did everything rap could ever do, just that it's fucking amazing.

at the same time, that's a very good review by reynolds. i *think* he'd written nice things about their recorded output before.

not really cool with his assumption about "arbitrarily assumed", just disregarding any idea abt why that might not be so, for instance being kings & queens of memphis and uruk is p first world and a legit counter to imposed low self-esteem

like not saying afrocentricity was the point, or doesn't cause headaches of its own but u know, u can investigate things beyond just assuming its arbitrary

also no idea what the shit abt wedding rings is, which is not good

my guess is that there was a tabloid furore around PE playing hammersmith (which is where the bit at the start of 'nation' comes from), and that PE said it was bullshit and the media lie, and that simey is saying, well yeah they do but i also witnessed some shitty behaviour [from PE fans, we are meant to infer -- potentially dodgy territory, though when i've been in that neck of the woods it's been p clear who is going to a gig and who isn't]

is it clear the type of rings ppl are stealing in the next traincar?