Artist

Public Enemy

Long Island, United States • Formed 1985

Public Enemy is a music group from Long Island, United States, active since 1985. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

333

In collections

1985

Since

Biography

Public Enemy are an American hip hop group formed by Chuck D and Flavor Flav in 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.

The Arc of Public Enemy

The pivots — what forced Public Enemy to reinvent.

The Bomb Squad Noise Collage
Between 1987 and 1990, the production team of Hank and Keith Shocklee, Eric Sadler, and Chuck D rewrote the rules of sampling. They loaded up the SP-1200 and Akai S900 to layer fragments of James Brown, Slayer, and screaming sirens into a dense wall of noise. You hear this peak chaos on 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,' where tracks are built from dozens of conflicting samples pitched up and shoved together. It was a deliberate rejection of the sparse, drum-machine-heavy hip-hop that dominated the radio at the time.
The Metal Cross-Pollination
By 1991, the group was looking to expand their sonic aggression, leading to a direct collaboration with thrash metal outfit Anthrax on a re-recording of 'Bring the Noise.' This move brought heavy guitar riffs and double-bass drums into their sound on 'Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black.' The transition wasn't just a gimmick. It opened up a massive crossover audience, proving that the abrasive energy of hip-hop could match the intensity of the loudest metal bands in the world.
The Post-Sample Pivot
The 1991 Grand Upright Music v. Warner Bros. Records lawsuit changed everything, making the dense, multi-sample style of the Bomb Squad legally impossible to produce without massive payouts. On 1994's 'Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age,' the group had to shift toward live instrumentation and cleaner, more straightforward loops. The album lacks the claustrophobic, thrilling panic of their early records. It marks the moment the band had to survive on Chuck's lyricism alone rather than the innovative noise that built them.

Influences

The Clash — Chuck D frequently cited the British punk outfit as a blueprint for how a band could carry a radical political message while touring the world. You hear this influence in the militant presentation, the us-against-them attitude, and the aggressive, fast-tempo delivery of their early singles.
James Brown — The Godfather of Soul is the literal DNA of Public Enemy, with the Bomb Squad utilizing his grunts, drum breaks, and horn stabs as foundational loops. On 'Fight the Power,' the rhythm track relies heavily on the vocal grunts and drum patterns sampled directly from Brown's discography.
Gil Scott-Heron — His spoken-word poetry and sharp critique of media and white supremacy laid the lyrical groundwork for Chuck D's rhyming style. The spoken-word delivery and focus on systemic racism on tracks like 'Show 'Em Whatcha Got' stem directly from Scott-Heron's direct, uncompromising vocal style.
Run-D.M.C. — The stripped-down, aggressive vocal delivery of Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels showed Chuck D that hip-hop could be loud, heavy, and confrontational. You hear this influence in the shouting, tag-team vocal delivery between Chuck D and Flavor Flav, which mimics the back-and-forth energy of the Queens trio.
Isaac Hayes — The lush, dramatic string arrangements and heavy horns of Hayes's Stax Records catalog were repeatedly chopped up by the Bomb Squad to create tension. The haunting, looping horn line that drives 'Abusey Junction' and 'Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos' is built directly on a pitched-down sample of Hayes's 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic.'