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It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' is the second studio album by American Hip hop music, 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. Noting the enthusiastic response toward their live shows, Public Enemy intended to make the album's music at a higher tempo than their 1987 debut ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' for performance purposes. The group also set out to create the hip hop equivalent of Marvin Gaye's ''What's Going On (album), What's Going On'' (1971), an album noted for its strong social commentary. Through their production team the Bomb Squad, Public Enemy introduced a densely aggressive sound influenced by free jazz, heavy funk, and musique concrète as a backdrop for lead rapper Chuck D, who employed sociopolitical rhetoric, revolutionary attitudes, and dense vocabulary in his performan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Enemy
Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American racism and the Mass media in the United States, 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 He Got Game (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1998 sports-drama film ''He Got Game'' and a collaborative album with Paris (rapper), Paris, ''Rebirth of a Nation'' (2006). Public Enemy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), 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). His work with Public Enemy helped create politically and socially conscious hip hop music in the mid-1980s. '' The Source'' ranked him at No. 12 on its list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Lyricists of All Time. Chuck D has been nominated for six Grammys throughout his career, and has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of Public Enemy. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 as a member of Public Enemy. Early life Ridenhour was born on August 1, 1960, on Long Island, New York. When he was a child, his mother played Motown and showtunes in the home and his father be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Jazz
Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, Musical tone, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting, and became preoccupied with creating something new. The term "free jazz" was drawn from the 1960 Ornette Coleman recording ''Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation''. Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music". The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazz big band, big bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward-looking, it draws on early styles of jazz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad was an American hip hop production team known for their work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. They are also known for incorporating harsh, atonal sounds and samples into their productions. About.com ranked the Bomb Squad at No. 12 on its Top-25 Hip-Hop Producers list. Members * Hank Shocklee * Keith Shocklee *Chuck D (credited as Carl Ryder; also member of Public Enemy) * Eric "Vietnam" Sadler * Gary G-Wiz (Gary Rinaldo) *Bill Stephney Partial discography *Public Enemy – '' Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' *Kings of Pressure – 'Give Me the Mike (Is This the End)' / 'You Know How to Reach Us'; 'Armed & Dangerous' * True Mathematics and the Invisible Empire – 'After Dark' / 'Greeks in the House' ; 'For the Money' / 'K.A.O.S.S. (Greeks in Effect pt. 2)'; 'I Don't Love You Anymore' *Robert S. – 'Good as Gold' / 'Big Words' *Publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What's Going On (album)
''What's Going On'' is the eleventh studio album by the American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World, United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye's first album to credit him as producer and to credit Motown's in-house session musicians, known as the Funk Brothers. ''What's Going On'' is a concept album with most of its songs segueing into the next and has been categorized as a song cycle. The narrative established by the songs is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye's introspective lyrics explore themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. He has also been credited with promoting awareness of ecological issues before the public outcry over them had become prominent (" Mercy Me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, which earned him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Soul", and is often considered one of the Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, greatest singers of all time. Gaye's Motown hits include "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" (1964), "Ain't That Peculiar" (1965), and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968). He also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye became one of the first Motown artists to break away from the reins of a production company and recorded the landmark albums ''What's Going On (album), What's Going On'' (1971) and ''Let's Get It On'' (1973). His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" is a song on the American hip hop group Public Enemy's 1988 album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. It was released as a single in 1989. The song tells the story of a conscientious objector who makes a prison escape. It is built on a high-pitched piano sample from Isaac Hayes' "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", from 1969's ''Hot Buttered Soul''. Song The vocals are mostly by lead rapper Chuck D, with sidekick Flavor Flav appearing between verses, seemingly speaking to Chuck over the phone. Flavor went to another room and called the studio to achieve this effect. It features a slower, more melodic beat than other songs on ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. Aside from the aforementioned Hayes sample, the song samples " Little Green Apples" by The Escorts and " Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder. The lines in the scratch breaks – "Now they got me in a cell" and "Death Row/What a brother knows" – are sam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Of The Living Baseheads
"Night of the Living Baseheads" is the third single released in 1988 by hip hop group Public Enemy, from their critically acclaimed album ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The lyrics deal with the effects of crack cocaine on African-Americans during the 1980s crack epidemic, referring to the slang for freebase cocaine "base" or crack cocaine. The song reached #62 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The song uses more samples than any other song on the album, a total of 20 (including the sample of Chuck D saying "Bass!" at the start of the song " Bring the Noise"). The chorus of the song that asks "How low can you go?", refers to a person degrading himself/herself, rather than a dance. The title is a reference to the film ''Night of the Living Dead'', equating people addicted to crack cocaine with zombies. Radical Afrocentrist, Black Panther and Nation of Islam spokesman Khalid Muhammad is sampled on "Night of the Living Baseheads" opening the song wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don't Believe The Hype
"Don't Believe the Hype" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the second single to be released from their second album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The song's lyrics are mostly about the political issues that were current in the United States at the time of its release. "Don't Believe the Hype" charted at number 18 on the U.S. R&B chart and also reached a high of 18 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1988. Chuck D has stated the song was inspired by the works of Noam Chomsky. The B-side includes "Prophets of Rage" and "The Rhythm The Rebel", an a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ... of the opening verse from " Rebel Without a Pause" which was a popular scratching phrase. Charts References Public Enemy (band) songs 1988 so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bring The Noise
"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 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song's lyrics, most of which are delivered by Chuck D with interjections from Flavor Flav, include boasts of Public Enemy's prowess, an endorsement of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, retorts to unspecified critics, and arguments for rap as a legitimate musical genre on par with rock. The lyrics also have a notable metrical complexity, making extensive use of meters like dactylic hexameter. The title phrase appears in the chorus. The song includes several shout-outs to fellow hip hop artists like Run-D.M.C., Eric B, LL Cool J and, unusually for a rap group, Yoko Ono, Sonny Bono and thrash metal ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebel Without A Pause
"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''. History "Rebel Without a Pause" was the first song created for ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The group had recently finished a tour with fellow Def Jam artists LL Cool J and Eric B. & Rakim, among others. According to Chuck D., the group felt that their prior album '' Yo! Bum Rush The Show'' was already dated, as production innovations had occurred during the album's release that he felt made it sound like a timestamp of 1986.''Don't Rhyme For The Sake Of Riddlin by Myrie, Russell Chuck D and Bomb Squad leader Hank Shocklee wanted to push the innovation in hip hop instead of follow it and decided one key idea to separate themselves from other hip hop acts was to speed the BPM of the songs. Chuck D said in an interview "Most rap recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fear Of A Black Planet
''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. Reflecting its confrontational tone, ''Fear of a Black Planet'' features elaborate sound collages that incorporate varying rhythms, numerous samples, media sound bites, and eccentric loops. Recorded during the golden age of hip hop, its assemblage of reconfigured and recontextualized aural s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
