Public Enemy:It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Genre: Rap	Dates: 1988

As gangsta rap made its move, Public Enemy (along with the Native Tongues clique, soon to be represented in this collection) provided a more conscious, constructive alternative, making this an essential listening choice for students of African-American history. Along with expertly synthesizing funk, free jazz, and black oratory (has there ever been an MC as powerful as Chuck D?), they reminded a nation of millions that it was moving backwards, not forwards, from the pioneering efforts of King and X. If you, like many, feel that Chuck was frequently full of half-baked hot air, you have to appreciate the dynamic of the half-cocked but comic Flavor Flav knocking the stuffing out of Chuck’s pomp just when it gets overbearing. Defensive white listeners also need to be reminded that black America is always a more frequent target of critique than they are in this group's music.

Playlist:

1. Countdown To Armageddon
2. Bring The Noise
3. Don't Believe The Hype
4. Cold Lampin With Flavor
5. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic
6. Mind Terrorist
7. Louder Than A Bomb
8. Caught, Can We Get A Witness?
9. Show Em Whatcha Got
10. She Watch Channel Zero?!
11. Night Of The Living Baseheads
12. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
13. Security Of The First World
14. Rebel Without A Pause
15. Prophets Of Rage
16. Party For Your Right To Fight