Public Enemy

Hip-hop underwent a profound shift thanks to Public Enemy, whose innovations broadened the genre’s palette of sounds and intensified its capacity to drive social discourse. At the height of their influence, leader and chief architect Chuck D asserted that “rap music is the invisible TV station that Black America never had,” a conviction that guided the group to confront issues central to Black America by extending the activist legacy of radical soul and funk from the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Bomb Squad’s bracing, cacophonic productions for the early Def Jam albums drew heavily on samples from that era, forging dense, invigorating collages of beats and noise that amplified the urgency in Chuck D’s rhymes. Flavor Flav, distinguished by an oversized clock around his neck, supplied comic counterpoint to Chuck’s gravitas yet functioned as more than a mere hypeman, fronting the 1990 single “911 Is a Joke,” a track that stands alongside 1989’s “Fight the Power” among the collective’s most recognized recordings. Throughout hip-hop’s late-’80s and ’90s golden age, the band occupied a central position, attracting both widespread acclaim and sharp controversy in roughly equal portions. Their key releases from that era, above all 1988’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and 1990’s Fear of a Black Planet, have remained enduring classics that helped secure the group’s 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even as Chuck D worked through the latter half of Public Enemy’s run to prevent the outfit from settling into relic territory. Across periods of success and difficulty—marked by the unexpected 2007 U.K. chart-topping single “Harder Than You Think”—Public Enemy pressed forward, demonstrating that a hip-hop group could age while continuing to evolve.

Born Carlton Ridenhour on August 1, 1960, Chuck D established Public Enemy in 1985 while pursuing graphic design studies at Adelphi University on Long Island. During that time he served as a DJ at campus radio station WBAU, where he encountered Hank Shocklee and Bill Stephney; the three bonded over shared passions for hip-hop and politics. Shocklee had already begun compiling hip-hop demo tapes, and Ridenhour added vocals to one track, “Public Enemy No. 1,” around the same period he started guesting on Stephney’s show under the Chuckie D name. Def Jam co-founder and producer Rick Rubin heard a copy of “Public Enemy No. 1” and promptly pursued Ridenhour with the aim of adding him to the fledgling label’s roster.

Although initially hesitant, Chuck D soon devised a plan for a group that would be revolutionary in both its sonic extremity and its political stance. Recruiting Shocklee as lead producer and Stephney as publicist, he assembled a lineup that included DJ Terminator X (born Norman Lee Rogers, August 25, 1966) and fellow Nation of Islam member Professor Griff (born Richard Griffin), who choreographed the Security of the First World dancers; those performers evoked the style of classic Stax and Motown routines through their disciplined, martial choreography while brandishing prop Uzis. Chuck D also invited longtime friend William Drayton (born March 16, 1959) to join as a second rapper; Drayton created the Flavor Flav persona, which operated as a jester-like counterpart to Chuck D’s resonant delivery and weighty verses.

Public Enemy’s first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, appeared on Def Jam Records in 1987. Its lean beats and forceful rhetoric earned praise from hip-hop journalists and devotees, yet the project bypassed the rock and R&B mainstream. The follow-up, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, proved far harder to overlook. Under Shocklee’s guidance the Bomb Squad crafted a thick, turbulent soundscape that incorporated found sounds and avant-garde textures alongside vintage funk grooves. Chuck D’s delivery grew more precise while Flavor Flav’s contributions turned increasingly unrestrained and humorous. Critics from both rap and rock circles hailed A Nation of Millions as a groundbreaking work, and it indeed marked hip-hop’s emergence as an agent of social transformation.

Elevated visibility also invited scrutiny. Chuck D’s widely cited description of rap as “the Black CNN” framed the music as a conduit for inner-city realities that conventional outlets failed to convey. Lyrics came under close examination afterward, and several observers took issue with the favorable mention of Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan on “Bring the Noise.” The group’s theme for Spike Lee’s provocative 1989 film Do the Right Thing, “Fight the Power,” stirred further debate through its critiques of Elvis Presley and John Wayne, yet that reaction was eclipsed by Professor Griff’s summer interview with The Washington Times. Although Griff had previously voiced anti-Semitic comments onstage, his assertion that Jews bore responsibility for “the majority of the wickedness that goes on across the globe” provoked widespread shock and condemnation, particularly from white critics who had earlier championed the band. Confronted with a serious crisis, Chuck D first dismissed Griff, later reinstated him, and ultimately dissolved the group. A subsequent interview in which Griff attacked Chuck D and Public Enemy confirmed Griff’s permanent exit.

Public Enemy devoted the balance of 1989 to crafting their third album and issued “Welcome to the Terrordome” as its lead single in early 1990. Once again the track generated contention when the line “still they got me like Jesus” drew accusations of anti-Semitism. Despite the surrounding turbulence, Fear of a Black Planet surfaced to strong reviews in spring 1990, climbed into the pop Top Ten, and yielded Top 40 R&B successes with “911 Is a Joke,” “Brothers Gonna Work It Out,” and “Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya Man.” For the next project, 1991’s Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black, the group re-cut “Bring the Noise” alongside thrash metal outfit Anthrax, signaling an effort to broaden their white listenership. The album earned largely favorable notices upon its autumn arrival and entered the pop charts at number four, yet momentum waned in 1992 amid a U.S. leg of U2’s Zoo TV tour and repeated legal troubles involving Flavor Flav. The remix collection Greatest Misses arrived that fall in an attempt to sustain visibility, though it met with harsh critiques.

Public Enemy paused activities in 1993 while Flav sought treatment for substance issues, resurfacing in summer 1994 with Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age. Advance reviews in Rolling Stone and The Source were sharply negative, shaping perceptions of the record before release. Muse Sick debuted at number 14 yet quickly slipped from the charts, unable to produce any singles. Chuck D halted touring in 1995, parted ways with Def Jam, launched his own label and publishing venture, and began reimagining Public Enemy’s direction. That same year he issued his solo debut, The Autobiography of Mistachuck. While promoting the project in the fall, he revealed plans to record a new Public Enemy album the following year.

Prior to completing that album, Chuck D released an autobiography in fall 1997. Throughout 1997 he reconvened the original Bomb Squad and initiated work on three projects. Public Enemy launched their major return in spring 1998 with the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s He Got Game, an effort that functioned more as a standalone album than a typical film companion. Released in April 1998, the record garnered the strongest critical response for any Public Enemy project since Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black. After Def Jam declined to support Chuck D’s push to distribute PE material directly online, he placed the group with web-oriented independent Atomic Pop. The label streamed MP3s of the seventh album, There’s a Poison Goin’ On..., ahead of its July 1999 retail launch.

Following a three-year recording hiatus and a move to the In the Paint imprint, Public Enemy issued Revolverlution, blending fresh material with remixes and concert recordings. The CD/DVD package It Takes a Nation surfaced in 2005, pairing an hour-long video of a 1987 London performance with a disc of rare remixes. New Whirl Odor also arrived that year. The collaborative “special projects” album Rebirth of a Nation, whose rhymes were all penned by Bay Area rapper Paris, was slated for simultaneous release but appeared only in early 2006. Odds-and-ends collection Beats and Places closed out 2006. How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? followed in summer 2007, anchored by the single “Harder Than You Think.”

Public Enemy then entered a quieter recording phase, issuing only the 2011 remix and rarities set Beats and Places over the next five years. The group returned forcefully in 2012 with two full-length projects: Most of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear on No Stamp in the summer and Evil Empire of Everything that fall. Extensive touring continued through 2012 and into 2013. Deluxe reissues of the second and third albums arrived the next year. In summer 2015 the collective delivered its 13th studio album, Man Plans God Laughs; shortly afterward Def Jam released the live set Live from Metropolis Studios. Chuck D participated in the supergroup Prophets of Rage—named after the Public Enemy song—debuting onstage in June 2016 alongside three-quarters of Rage Against the Machine and Cypress Hill’s B-Real. In 2017 Public Enemy marked the 30th anniversary of their debut with the free, self-released full-length Nothing Is Quick in the Desert.

Public Enemy drew attention in early 2020 when Chuck D stated he had split from Flavor Flav following a decision to perform at a March Bernie Sanders rally as Public Enemy Radio. Days later the group disclosed on April Fool’s Day that the separation had been a prank and that Public Enemy Radio would issue Loud Is Not Enough later that month. Their genuine return occurred that September with a reunion on Def Jam for What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?, an album featuring guest appearances by George Clinton, Black Thought, Questlove, Mike D, Ad-Rock, and Run-DMC.