Sunday 20 March 2011

#487 - "Fear Of A Black Planet" - Public Enemy

Released On:  Def Jam / Columbia, 1990

Fear Of A Black Planet was recorded at the tail end of the controversy surrounding Professor Griff's claim that Jews were responsible for most of the wickedness in the world, and P.E. leader Chuck D's mishandling of the situation.  Consequently, the album is even angrier and more confrontational than it's angry, confrontational predecessor, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.  It's also denser than lead.  The Bomb Squad's production kicked off the 90's with a bang, incorporating anything and everything they could lay their hands on, piling samples on top of samples until it feels as though every recording from the previous twenty years is represented throughout.  Such events would rarely happen again; as the 90s progressed, the haters began equating sampling with stealing and such dense sampledelic stews would fall by the wayside.  The only real cringe-worthy moment is on "Meet The G That Killed Me", where Chuck descends into blatant homophobia, which seems like a big misstep on a record that eloquently describes the plight of African-Americans at the dawn of the last decade of the 20th Century.  Still, "Welcome To The Terrordome", "911 Is A Joke" and Do The Right Thing theme "Fight The Power" remain incisive, anthemic slabs of early hip-hop mastery.

Where You'd Know It From:  Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee's 1989 exploration of urban relations.  Many of the songs are old-school classics and get blasted at retro nights at the more urban clubs.  "Fight The Power" was on Def Jam Rapstar.

Track Listing:
1.  Contract On The World Love Jam (1:44)
2.  Brothers Gonna Work It Out (5:07)
3.  911 Is A Joke (3:17)
4.  Incident At 66.6 FM (1:37)
5.  Welcome To The Terrordome (5:25)
6.  Meet The G That Killed Me (0:44)
7.  Pollywanacraka (3:52)
8.  Anti-Nigger Machine (3:17)
9.  Burn Hollywood Burn (ft. Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane) (2:47)
10.  Power To The People (3:50)
11.  Who Stole The Soul? (3:49)
12.  Fear Of A Black Planet (3:45)
13.  Revolutionary Generation (5:43)
14.  Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man (2:46)
15.  Reggie Jax (1:35)
16.  Leave This Off Your Fuckin' Charts (2:31)
17.  B Side Wins Again (3:45)
18.  War At 33 1/3 (2:07)
19.  Final Count Of The Collision Between Us And The Damned (0:48)
20.  Fight The Power (4:42)

Download It:  http://bit.ly/kFB70S

BUY IT:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fear-of-a-black-planet/id303894839

("911 Is A Joke")





("Fight The Power")





("Welcome To The Terrordome")

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