Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, known professionally as Chuck D or Da Sneed, is an American rapper, author, and producer. As the leader of the rap group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav, Chuck D helped create politically and socially conscious hip hop music in the mid-1980s. The Source ranked him at No. 12 on their list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Lyricists of All Time.
Public Enemy is an American hip hop group formed by Chuck D and Flavor Flav on Long Island, New York, in 1985. The group came to attention for their music with a heavy political message alongside strong criticism of the media of the United States, with many of their works also revolving around frustrations and concerns of the African American community. Public Enemy's debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 to critical acclaim and their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988), was the first hip hop album to top The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Their next three albums, Fear of a Black Planet (1990), Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black (1991) and Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994), were also well received by music critics.
Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on April 10, 1990, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records.
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on October 1, 1991, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. The album received critical acclaim, ranking at No. 2 in The Village Voice's 1991 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.
Yo! Bum Rush the Show is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on February 10, 1987. It was recorded at Spectrum City Studios in Hempstead, New York, and became one of the fastest-selling hip hop records, but was controversial among radio stations and critics, in part due to lead rapper Chuck D's black nationalist politics. Despite this, the album has since been regarded as one of hip hop's greatest and most influential records.
Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on August 23, 1994, by Def Jam Recordings. The title is a reverse mondegreen of the phrase "music in our message" (emphasizing that their message is more important than the music, rather than the typical "message in our music." Alternatively, it could be interpreted as "music and our message." The album debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 56,000 copies in its first week.
"Fight the Power" is a song by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released as a single in the summer of 1989 on Motown Records. It was conceived at the request of film director Spike Lee, who sought a musical theme for his 1989 film Do the Right Thing. First issued on the film's 1989 soundtrack, a different version was featured on Public Enemy's 1990 studio album Fear of a Black Planet.
Golden age hip hop is a name given to mainstream hip hop music created from the mid-1980s to early-mid 1990s, particularly by artists and musicians originating from the New York metropolitan area. An outgrowth of the new school hip hop movement, it is characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence on hip hop after the genre's emergence and establishment in the old-school era, and is associated with the development and eventual mainstream success of hip hop. There were various types of subject matter, while the music was experimental and the sampling from old records was eclectic.
Greatest Misses is a compilation album of an American hip hop band Public Enemy. It was released in 1992. It included previously unreleased outtakes (1-6), remixes of previously released songs (7-12) and a live British TV performance (13).
He Got Game is a soundtrack and sixth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 28, 1998 under Def Jam Recordings. It was released as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 film of the same name and was the group's last album for Def Jam until 2020's What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down. He Got Game was produced by members of the Bomb Squad, along with producers Abnes Dubose, Danny Saber, D. R. Period, and Jack Dangers.
Revolverlution is the eighth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released July 23, 2002 on Koch Records in the United States. The album debuted at number 110 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Upon its release, it received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 65/100 from Metacritic.
William Jonathan Drayton Jr., widely known by his stage name Flavor Flav, is an American rapper, rap "hype man", and television personality. He had co-founded the rap group Public Enemy in 1985 with Chuck D, where he was known especially for his yells of "Yeah, boyeeeeee!". After several years outside the public eye, he starred in several VH1 reality series, including The Surreal Life, Strange Love, and Flavor of Love.
The discography of Public Enemy, an American hip hop group, consists of 15 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, two remix albums, one soundtrack album, four video albums, 39 singles, four promotional singles and 39 music videos. The group released their debut studio album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, in February 1987; it peaked at number 125 on the United States Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles "Public Enemy No. 1" and "You're Gonna Get Yours". Public Enemy released their second studio album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in April 1988. The album peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200. It has since sold 1.3 million copies in the US, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Four of the album's singles charted on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Bring the Noise", "Don't Believe the Hype", "Night of the Living Baseheads" and "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos". The former three, along with the single "Rebel Without a Pause", also charted in the United Kingdom.
Harry Allen is an American hip hop activist and journalist affiliated with the group Public Enemy, and is the director of the Rhythm Cultural Institute. He grew up in Freeport, Long Island.
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted is the debut studio album by American rapper Ice Cube, released on May 16, 1990, by Priority Records. It was his first solo album, after an acrimonious split from his former group N.W.A. The album was primarily produced by Public Enemy's production team The Bomb Squad. A critical and commercial success, it remains one of the defining hip hop albums of the 1990s.
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988. The group set out to make the hip hop equivalent to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, an album noted for its strong social commentary. Recording sessions took place throughout 1987 and 1988 at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York. Noting the enthusiastic response toward their live shows, Public Enemy intended to make faster music than their 1987 debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show for performance purposes.
"Rebel Without a Pause" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the first single from their 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The title is a reference to the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause.
R.E.D., is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, first released on October 31, 2012, in Japan. The album follows the disappointing commercial performance to 2010's Libra Scale and is Ne-Yo's first album with new label Motown Records after being appointed as the label's senior vice president for A&R. The album contains songs that crossover different genres of music, combining elements of R&B, pop and dance-pop.
PE 2.0 is the spiritual successor and "next generation" of iconic New York rap group Public Enemy, fronted by Oakland rapper Jahi. Originally from Cleveland, Jahi had met Public Enemy frontman Chuck D backstage during a sound-check at the 1999 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and later appeared as a support act on Public Enemy's 20th Anniversary Tour in 2007.
InsPirEd is the second studio album by American hip hop group and Public Enemy spin-off PE 2.0. The album was released on October 11, 2015 and includes collaborations with Hip Hop icons KRS-One, Easy Mo Bee and Jam Master Jay. As with PE 2.0's debut album "InsPirEd" is a mixture of homage and updates to Public Enemy (band) material as well as new original tracks by Jahi.
