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| Power to the People and the Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | August 2, 2005 | |||
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| Length | 77 minutes | |||
| Label | Def Jam | |||
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| Public Enemy chronology | ||||
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Power to the People and the Beats is a greatest hits album by hip hop group Public Enemy.
The collection represents the group's output during their time on Def Jam/Universal.
The planned Power to the People and the Videos release was delayed due to legal issues with Universal.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork Media | 9.4/10 [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [3] |
Uncut (p. 130) – 4 stars out of 5 – "PE harnessed the power of chaos and rage more effectively than any punk or speed-metal merchant, were more articulate in their anger than any folk singer, were as righteous as any roots reggae or gospel singer."
Mojo (p. 132) – 4 stars out of 5 – "[With] squealing, clashing samples..."
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Best known as the founder, leader and frontman of the American hip hop 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 which was formed by Chuck D and Flavor Flav on Long Island, New York, in 1985. The group came to attention for their political messages including subjects such as American racism and the American media. Their 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. The group has since released twelve more studio albums, including the soundtrack to the 1998 movie He Got Game and a collaborative album with Paris, Rebirth of a Nation (2006).
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, and produced by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded on the sample-layered sound of Public Enemy's 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Having fulfilled their initial creative ambitions with that album, the group aspired to create what lead rapper Chuck D called "a deep, complex album". Their songwriting was partly inspired by the controversy surrounding member Professor Griff and his dismissal from the group in 1989.
The Bomb Squad is an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy.
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on September 24, 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.
"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.
"People of the Sun" is the second single by American rock band Rage Against the Machine for their 1996 album Evil Empire. Written in 1992, the song is about the Zapatista revolution. Lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha wrote the song after a visit to Chiapas in southern Mexico. "People of the Sun" also has a music video. It was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy in 1998, but it lost to The Smashing Pumpkins' "The End Is the Beginning Is the End".
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).
WBAU was the call sign of the student-operated radio station located at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, 18 miles (29 km) east of Midtown Manhattan. The new web-based radio station is PAWS Web Radio.
Split Personality is the debut studio album by American rapper Cassidy. It was released on March 16, 2004, by Full Surface, with manufacturing and distribution from J. The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, selling 118,000 copies in its first week. To date, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States.
Keith Matthew Boxley, better known as Keith Shocklee or Wizard K-Jee, is an American hip hop producer and DJ. He was an original member of Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad. He has contributed his talent to several albums including It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet. Shocklee also co-produced the singles "Bring the Noise” and "Fight The Power," which were included on Rolling Stone's list of the “500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.”
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.
Gary Rinaldo, better known by the name Gary G-Wiz, is an American record producer and film score composer. Most known for being a member of the hip hop production team the Bomb Squad, G-Wiz is a longtime Public Enemy producer and contributed to many albums including: Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black, Greatest Misses, Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age, Autobiography of Mistachuck, There's a Poison Goin' On, Revolverlution, and How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?.
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, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It was recorded from 1987 to 1988 in sessions at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York.
Mo' Money: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1992 film of the same name. It was released June 23, 1992 on Perspective Records. The soundtrack peaked at six on the Billboard 200 chart. By September 1992, it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies in the United States.
"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.
Norman Rogers, known professionally as Terminator X, is an American DJ best known for his work with hip hop group Public Enemy, which he left in 1998. He also produced two solo albums, Terminator X & The Valley of the Jeep Beets (1991) and Super Bad (1994), featuring Chuck D, Sister Souljah, DJ Kool Herc, the Cold Crush Brothers, and a bass music track by the Punk Barbarians.
Kenny Houston aka True Mathematics is a rapper from Hempstead, New York. He released an album called "Greatest Hits" as a collaboration with Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler, Carl Ryder, and spawned four singles: "After Dark", which charted at #92 on the UK Singles Chart; For the Lover in You; I Don't Love You Anymore; For the Money/KAOss, which also charted at #92 on the UK Singles Chart. He also contributed to the Public Enemy song "Get the Fuck Outta Dodge", which was the B-Side to their single "Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man" from their album Fear of a Black Planet and also appeared on their album Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black.
