As we celebrate Public Enemy being inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight.. We wanted to remind people of some of their work.. What they have on deck is impressive.. These were some of the songs I really dug.. Enjoy..
So Whatcha Gonna Do Now This is one of my favorite songs from Public Enemy.. It was off the Muse Sick in Our Message album and sadly was overlooked by a lot of folks.. This song spawned one of the first videos to show a Black President…15 years before Obama takes office..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhKqsIe283c
You can’t really talk about Public Enemy without making mention of this classic song ‘By the Time I get to Arizona‘. The video to this song sent shock waves throughout the country as the group depicted themselves killing two Senators and Governor who opposed the Martin Luther King Holiday in Arizona.. The resulting controversy had critics calling rap and Public Enemy violent and a bad influence on kids.. Others said Dr King wouldn’t have like the video.. Those of us who tired of Arizona’s out right racism cheered the group on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrFOb_f7ubw
Burn Hollywood Burn brought together 3 legends, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube and Chuck D who killed in both subject matter (Black stereotypical images in Hollywood and their performance.. This is a must for anyone who is a student of Hip Hop… It’s what made the so called Golden Era so powerful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhQGH6CbKhw
I know I said 3 Dope Songs, but I’m gonna toss this bonus cut in from Terminator X‘s album called Buck Whyling. Although known throughout New York for her activism.. Lisa Williamson became known to us as Sister Souljah and is the star of this video..She later went on to do her own album with production from the Bomb Squad … I wish PE and Souljah had done more songs together.. She was and still is a force to be reckoned with and her voice was able to cut through the noise like Chucks.. I don’t think America and maybe even the group itself was ready for that pairing..
On another note Terminator X’s album was butter.. he had a number of dope songs and was the first to pay tribute to Hip Hop pioneer Kool herc by actually having him do a song for the album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHBwwdegvSc
Lastly what y’all know about this song and rarely seen video? I’ll let it speak for itself.. I remember when the group performed this outside the GOP convention..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGFj7ypDfXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am9BqZ6eA5c
A must see is this documentary about Public Enemy Prophets of Rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fM_VXPZqBg
This is what Hip Hop is ideally about..People coming together, building community and making a strong statement in the name of humanity..
It’s always a pleasure to chat it up w/ Chilean born emcee Anita Tijoux who has been doing her thing for a minute outside the US and has now been making major headway here. Her album 1977 kicked down the doors and put folks on notice she was not one to be toyed with.. Her constant sold out shows is an indication that she’s here to stay. We sat down with Anita not too long ago after she rocked the Independent in SF. We talked about her new material and the political uprisings in her native Chile where hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets protesting education tuition hikes..
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner 