Posts tagged Public Enemy

The golden era of hip-hop began 35 years ago, launching what you could call “Phase 3 of the hip-hop age.” This cultural phenomenon was first developed into a musical genre when Clive Campbell a.k.a. D.J. Kool Herc a Jamaican transplant threw a party on Aug.11th 1973 in the rec room of his apartment complex at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx. It was to raise money for his baby sister’s back to school supplies. Herc took 2 records of the same song on 2 turntables and would repeat the “break-beat” part of records by James Brown, The Jimmy Castor Bunch …

By 1991, seminal rap group Public Enemy not only had rewritten the story of hip-hop and popular music but had offended and unwillingly threatened the white power structure as well. It seemed that everyone at the beginning of the new decade had a problem with P.E. Their music cut right to the heart of white racist America and all oppressive forces in a musical tapestry that truly sparked the “fear of a Black planet.” Led by the commanding baritone-voiced Chuck D. who wielded the presence of a modern b-boy African chief, complete with Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat, P.E. baseball jacket …

In its heyday, the still popular Rap group, Public Enemy, released several popular hits, most notably among them one titled 911 Is a Joke. As nice and apropos as the music and literary ingredients were, 911 wasn’t a song to hit the dance floor and release… it was music to listen to, speaking to reflecting their reality in the hardscrabble lives of many. We see images of that circumstance regularly on TV, in newspapers and magazines, etc. More importantly we see the people who are victims and impacted by hardscrabble the images… sometimes including death. Public Enemy has made an …