Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a member of the rock supergroup Prophets of Rage. He has released several solo albums, most notably Autobiography of Mistachuck (1996).
Public Enemy is an American hip hop group formed by Chuck D and Flavor Flav on Long Island, New York, in 1985. The group rose to prominence 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 sports-drama film He Got Game and a collaborative album with Paris, Rebirth of a Nation (2006).
Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour.
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's anti-Semitic public comments and his consequent dismissal from the group in 1989.
Fight the Power... Live! is a live video by Public Enemy released in 1989 on the VHS and laserdisc formats.
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". 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.
BTN 2000 is an unreleased industrial remix album of Public Enemy tracks produced by Spacey B & George "Cornbread" Marshall, following their 1998 He Got Game album. The group's attempt to make it available to fans online was blocked by their record distributor, PolyGram. This action resulted in the group's departure from that label and Def Jam, with whom PE had made music history in the late 1980s. The group's next album, There's a Poison Goin' On was released on the independent label Atomic Pop.
Power to the People and the Beats is a greatest hits album by hip hop group Public Enemy.
William Jonathan Drayton Jr., known by his stage name Flavor Flav, is an American Hype man and rapper. Known for his yells of "Yeah, boyeeeeee!" when performing, he was a founding member of the rap group Public Enemy alongside Chuck D; with them he has earned six Grammy Award nominations, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"911 Is a Joke" is a 1990 song by American hip hop group Public Enemy, from their third album, Fear of a Black Planet. The song is solely performed by Flavor Flav. It was released as a single and became a hit in April 1990, reaching number 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and number one on the Hot Rap Singles chart, becoming their second number-one rap chart hit after "Fight the Power". It also reached number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. This was due largely to its sales, which were unusually high for the level of mainstream airplay it received; Billboard reported that only one of the stations on its Top 40 panel was playing it.
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.
"Bring the Noise" is a song by the American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was included on the soundtrack of the 1987 film Less than Zero; the song was also released as a single that year. It later became the first song on the group's 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The single reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
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.
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.
"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.
"I Got Ants in My Pants (and I Want to Dance)" is a funk song by James Brown. Recorded in 1971 and released as a two-part single in November 1972 or January 1973, it charted #4 R&B and #27 Pop. It did not receive an album release. A remixed version was included on the 1988 compilation album Motherlode, Part 1 to Star Time and the whole cut again in Make It Funky: The Big Payback.
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.
Prophets of Rage was an American rap rock supergroup. Formed in 2016, the group consisted of three members of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two members of Public Enemy, and rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill. The band disbanded in 2019, following the reuniting of Rage Against the Machine. During its three-year existence, Prophets of Rage released one EP and one full-length studio album.
"Welcome to the Terrordome" is a song by the American hip hop band Public Enemy, recorded for their 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet. It was released as a single in January 1990, according to the discographer Martin C. Strong.
