Hugely influential and controversial New York, USA-based rap act, frequently referred to as "The Black Sex Pistols", Public Enemy's legacy extends beyond rap, and attained a massive cultural significance within black communities. The effect on the consciousness (and consciences) of white people during the act's heyday (the late 80s and early 90s) is almost as considerable.
Public Enemy was initially viewed either as a radical and positive avenging force, or a disturbing manifestation of the guns 'n' violence-obsessed, homophobic, misogynist, anti-Semitic attitudes of a section of the black American ghetto underclass. The crew's origins can be traced to 1982 and the Adelphi University, Long Island, New York. There college radio DJ Chuck D. (b. Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, 1 August 1960, Roosevelt, Long Island, New York City, USA) and Hank Shocklee were given the chance to mix tracks for the college station, WBAU, by Bill Stephney. Together they produced a collection of aggressive rap/hip-hop cuts under the title Super Special Mix Show in January 1983. They were eventually joined by Flavor Flav (b. William Jonathan Drayton Jnr., 16 March 1959, Roosevelt, Long Island, New York, USA), who had previously worked alongside Chuck D. and his father in their V-Haul company in Long Island, and rang the station incessantly until he too became a host of their show. In 1984, Shocklee and Chuck D. began mixing their own basement hip-hop tapes, primarily for broadcast on WBAU, which included "Public Enemy Number 1", from which they took their name.
By 1987 they had signed to Rick Rubin's Def Jam Records (he had first approached them two years earlier) and increased the line-up of the group for musical and visual purposes - Professor Griff "Minister Of Information" (b. Richard Griffin), DJ Terminator X (b. Norman Rogers, 25 August 1966) and a four-piece words/dance/martial arts back-up section (Security Of The First World). Shocklee and Chuck D. were also to be found running a mobile DJ service, and managed Long Island's first rap venue, the Entourage. The sound of Public Enemy's debut, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, was characteristically hard and knuckle bare, its title track a revision of the original "Public Enemy Number 1" cut. With funk samples splicing Terminator X's turntable sequences, a guitar solo by Living Colour's Vernon Reid (on "Sophisticated Bitch"), and potent raps from Chuck D. assisted by Flav's grim, comic asides, it was a breathtaking arrival. That Public Enemy were not only able to follow-up, but also improve on that debut set with It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, signified a clear division between them and the gangsta rappers. Their nearest competitors, N.W.A., peaked with Straight Outta Compton, their idea of progress seemingly to become more simplistically hateful with each subsequent release. Public Enemy, on the other hand, was beginning to ask questions, and if America's white mainstream audience chose to fear rap, the invective expressed within "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos", "Prophets Of Rage" and "Bring The Noise" gave them excellent cause.
That anxiety was cleverly exploited in the title of the band's third set, Fear Of A Black Planet. Despite their perceived antagonistic stance, they proved responsive to some criticism, evident in the necessary ousting of Professor Griff in 1989 for an outrageous anti-Semitic statement made in the US press. He would subsequently be replaced by James Norman, then part-time member Sister Souljah. Fear Of A Black Planet, their first record without Griff's services, nevertheless made use of samples of the news conferences and controversy surrounding his statements, enhancing the bunker mentality atmosphere which pervaded the project. The single, "911 Is A Joke", an attack on emergency service response times in ghetto areas, became the subject of a barely credible Duran Duran cover version, strangely confirming Public Enemy's mainstream standing. Apocalypse 91 ... The Enemy Strikes Black was almost as effective, the band hardly missing a beat musically or lyrically with black pride cuts like "I Don't Wanna Be Called Yo Nigga" and "Bring The Noise", performed with thrash metal outfit Anthrax. In September 1990, it was revealed that they actually appeared in an FBI report to Congress examining "Rap Music And Its Effects On National Security". Despite their popularity and influence, or perhaps because of it, there remained a large reservoir of antipathy directed towards the band within sections of the music industry (though more thoughtful enclaves welcomed them; Chuck D. would guest on Sonic Youth's 1990 album, Goo, one of several collaborative projects). Either way, their productions in the late 80s and early 90s were hugely exciting - both for the torrents of words and the fury of the rhythm tracks, and in the process they have helped to write rap's lexicon. "Don't Believe The Hype" (1988) became as powerful a slogan in the late 80s/early 90s as "Power To The People" was almost 20 years earlier. Similarly, the use of "Fight The Power" in Spike Lee's 1989 movie Do The Right Thing perfectly expressed suppressed anger at the Eurocentric nature of American culture and history.
In the 90s several members of the band embarked on solo careers, while Hank Shocklee and his brother Keith established Shocklee Entertainment in 1993, a production firm and record label. Public Enemy released their first album in three years in 1994 with Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age, though touring arrangements were delayed when Terminator X broke both his legs in a motorcycle accident. The album was released on 4 July - American Independence Day. Again, it proved practically peerless, with cuts like "So Watcha Gone Do Now" putting the new breed of gangsta rappers firmly in their place. Following its release, Flav was charged with possession of cocaine and a firearm in November 1995, while Chuck D. became a noted media pundit.
In 1998, the original line-up of Public Enemy regrouped for a new album, which also served as the soundtrack for Spike Lee's He Got Game. Public Enemy terminated their 12-year association with Def Jam shortly afterwards, a series of disagreements ending with an argument over the band's decision to post their new single, "Swindler's Lust", on the Internet. They then signed up with an Internet record company, Atomic Pop, and became the first mainstream band to release an album online. There's A Poison Goin On " and its independent label follow-ups have met with polite applause from loyal critics and a muted commercial response.
