N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.
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).
Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, known professionally as MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the record label Villain Entertainment.
O'Shea Jackson Sr., better known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commercially successful. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016.
Louis Farrakhan is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. and for his rhetoric that has been widely denounced as antisemitic and racist.
Eric B. & Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York, in 1986, composed of DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. AllMusic wrote that "during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s, Eric B. & Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop." Tom Terrell of NPR called them "the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period." The editors of About.com ranked them as No. 5 on their list of the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Duos of All-Time, and Rolling Stone ranked them No. 5 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial, and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade; mainstream historians, such as Saul S. Friedman, have said Jews had a negligible role. The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated.
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 previous album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988). 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.
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.
The Jewish Defense Organization (JDO) was or is a Jewish militant group in the United States. It is unclear if it is still functioning.
Rebirth of a Nation is a collaborative studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy and rapper/producer Paris. Its title is a reference to the 1915 white supremacist film The Birth of a Nation as well as one of the group's prior albums, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Despite the Public Enemy branding on the album, many tracks were written and produced by Paris; the album itself was deemed a "special project" by Chuck D in order to differentiate it from other Public Enemy works. It was released on March 7, 2006 through Guerrilla Funk Recordings with distribution via Caroline Distribution. The album was mixed and mastered at Data Stream Studio in San Francisco, California. The album features guest appearances from Dead Prez, MC Ren, Kam, Sister Souljah, The Conscious Daughters, Immortal Technique and Professor Griff. Rebirth of a Nation peaked at number 180 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States and sold 5,592 units in its first week out.
Lyor Cohen is an American music industry executive and entrepreneur. He has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def Jam. After Def Jam, Cohen took on a leadership role at Warner Music Group. In September 2012, Cohen resigned from Warner and started his own independent label, 300 Entertainment. On September 28, 2016, Cohen was named YouTube's Global Head of Music.
"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.
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.
Political hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the 1980s as a way of turning hip hop into a form of political activism. Political hip hop generally uses the medium of hip hop music to comment on sociopolitical issues and send political messages to inspire action, create social change, or to convince the listener of a particular worldview. It was inspired partially by politically-focused 1970s artists such as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, as well as the Black Power movement and revolutionary politics of the 1960s and 1970s. Various hip hop artists emerged in the late 1980s espousing political messages and providing social and political commentary with KRS-One and his group Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy in particular establishing themselves as some of the first predominantly political hip hop groups with albums in 1988. Soon to follow in 1989 and following years were other Political rappers, or known as "Conscious rap" including such groups as X-Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers, Paris (rapper), Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and others The genre has helped to create a new form of social expression for subordinate groups to speak about their exclusions, injustices, and lack of power.
"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.
Pawns in the Game is the only studio album by the American musician Professor Griff and the Last Asiatic Disciples, which included Life, Patrick X, B-Wyze, Jim "Obie" O'Brien, and JXL. It was released in 1990 via Luke/Atlantic Records. The recording sessions took place at Skyywalker Recording Studio in Liberty City. The production was mainly handled by Griff, with co-producers O'Brien, Beatmaster Clay D and Kerwin "Sleek" Young. Luke Skyywalker served as the executive producer.
Blood of the Profit is an album by the American rapper Professor Griff. It was released in 1998 on Lethal/Blackheart/Mercury, and was produced by Professor Griff and Chuck D. The single, "The Ole Bitch-U-Worryz," which featured Chuck D, made it to No. 16 on the Hot Rap Singles and No. 66 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
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.
A number of hip hop artists in the United States are followers of Islam. Although some Muslims believe some or most forms of music are haram, these artists do not necessarily consider themselves as practicing orthodox Muslims.
