isbell@athena.mit.edu (Charles L Isbell) (06/15/91)
What up, homecookin'?
Since we've been arguing about the various PE albums, I've decided to
settle it objectively (that is, what I say goes):
This time: _It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back_ by Public Enemy
Next time: _Fear of A Black Planet_ by Public Enemy
_Seminar_ by Sir Mix-A-Lot
New Jacks: _Release The Pressure_ by Criminal Nation
_One For All_ by Brand Nubian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distinctiveness: Muchness.
Dopeness Rating: Dope, dope, dope, dope. Oh yeah, did I mention that it's
dope?
Rap Part: Dope+. The lyrics are stupid-dope-tight.
Sounds: Dope+. You can turn it off, but you can't turn it down.
Early Bomb Squad. It has a very hard edge to it and seems
to attract the more hard-minded rocknroller out there.
Message: Politically minded.
Tracks: We're talking 16 tracks at 58 minutes.
Profanity: I think there's a bit, but not much. Let you parents listen
to it.
_It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back_ is the second of three
albums released by Public Enemy. Although some might argue about whether
this one is better than either _Yo! Bum Rush The Show_ or _Fear of a
Black Planet_, it is probably fair to say that this is the album that
best defines their style (or at least their percieved style).
At the time of _...Nations..._, Public Enemy was Chuck D., Flavor Flav,
Terminator X, Professor Griff and the S1W's, and (in some sense) the
Bomb Squad. Chuck D is the lead rapper with Flav providing a sorta
ad-lib background. Terminator X speaks with his hands only, and the
S1W's are a pseudo-military thing in lieu of dancers. Among the Real
Rap(tm), PE is probably the most well-known, respected, and popular
group (ie Vanilla Wafer and MC Mallet aren't real--sorry). In a way
very similar to Run-DMC in 1983, Public Enemy in 1988 changed the tone
of rap.
But everyone out there knows this, so I won't bother to go on with more
background.
We begin our travels with "Countdown to Armageddon," a simple recording from
one of their concerts in London. In short, it is the MC introducing them
to the crowd. We return to snipets of the concert throughout the CD.
"Armageddon's been in effect. Go get a late pass."
So the true start of the album is "Bring The Noise." This is, as everyone
knows, a super-duper dope cut from hell. It carries what was once their
signature background whine. The pitch is very high and designed such that
you can't ignore it, no matter how low you take the volume. Somehow it
doesn't take away from the funkiness. Anyway, the track, like much of their
album is a blend of political comments intertwined with funkiness and
non-political stuff.
"Never badder than bad
'Cause the brother is madder than mad
At the fact that's corrupt like a senator."
"(Flav) Hey, yo, Chuck, they're sayin' we're too Black, man."
We continue with "Don't Believe The Hype." This was a fairly popular
song when it came out, so even if you're the one guy who doesn't have the
album, you've probably heard this. It's about just what the title says.
In terms of sounds, it's uncharacteristically sparse.
"Caught in the middle and
not surrenderin'
I don't rhyme for the sake of riddlin'"
From there we move to "Cold Lampin' With Flavor" where our boy goes solo.
This is by far the wierdest thing on the CD. It doesn't make a lot of sense
at first listen, but if you read the lyrics you can follow it. Besides
that, the words all flow together _very_ nicely, turning something that could
easily have been stupid into dopeness. In addition to "live lyrics from da
bank of reality," we are treated to a dope backbeat.
"Um in my Flav-mobile cole lampin'
I took dis g upstate cole campin'
To da poke-a-nose, we call da hide-a-ways
A pack of franks and a big bag of frito lays"
"You could put dat in ya don't know what I said book"
"Terminator X To The Edge of Panic" is a rap about the DJ. He does some
nice scratching with that Queen song from Flash Gordan. The hi-whine
is back in full force on this one. In addition, there are nice sound bites
of various people decrying Black radio station people and whatnot. Then
there's "Mind Terrorist," a short Flav-sounds samples-fest instrumental.
"Terminator X yellin' with his hands"
From here we hit "Louder Than A Bomb," one of my brother's favorites.
When I first listened to it, lo these many years gone, I wasn't all that
impressed, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why not now.
This is dope stuff for the ears and the lyrics are nicely tight.
"I teach and speak
So when it's spoke, it's no joke"
"Lethal when I'm unarmed
'cause I'm louder than a bomb"
"Here's a funky rhyme that they're tappin' on
Just thinkin' I'm breakin' the beats I'm rappin' on
CIA FBI--All they tell us is lies
When I say it they get alarmed...."
"Caught, Can I Get A Witness" is preceeded by maybe fifteen seconds of
concert talk. This one is about a hypothetical case involving your
boyz being prosecuted for stealing beats.
"You singers are spinless
as you sing your senseless songs to the mindless
Your general subject matter love is minimal
It's sex for profit."
"They say that I stole this
I rebel with a raised fist, can I get a witness?"
We have a brief interlude with "Show Em Watcha Got" another series
of samples. For a good example of how to use sounds as instruments,
listen to this one. Using one Chuck D phrase and one Flav phrase
with sampled speeches from someone I don't recognize (actually, it
sounds like Angela Davis, but I don't really know), they manage to
create something well worth listening to. _I_ like it anyway. I
always include it on my compilations.
"She Watch Channel Zero" is the track with the Slayer riff. This
one is as dope as the rest.
"Revolution a solution
for all our children
but all her children
don't mean as much as the show"
Hmmm. We're on a roll. "Night of the Living Baseheads" hits you
really hard. No Slayer, but lots of coherent noise (and a sax or
two). The message is clear but not heavy handed.
"Shame on a Brother when he's dealin'
the same block that my 98 be wheelin'
And everybody know
Another kilo
from a corner from a brother keeps another
below"
We drop the tempo some for "Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos"
where our boy ends up in jail. In the video version of this,
Chuck organizes a riot and almost gets out. The warden takes him into
his office, arranges a quickie execution and manages to barely supress
a smile when he's hanged.
"I got a letter from the government the other day
I opened and read it. It said they were suckers.
They wanted me for their army or whatever.
Picture me givin' a damn--I said never."
"The reasons are several
Most of them federal."
"You know I caught a C-O
fallin' asleep on death row
I grabbed his gun--then he did what I said-so."
We follow this rather long track with a short instrumental "Security of The
First World" before hitting "Rebel Without A Pause." As all of you know
this is appropriately dope. This is the track where Chuck utters
the "Radio--suckers never play me" line. If you can measure respect from
other rappers by catch phrases sampled, then PE would have to win it hands
down. "Boyeeeeee!" and "Bass!" along with more substantial lines appear
left and right in other raps, and much of those samples were taken
from _...Nations...._
"Yes, the rhythm, the rebel
without a pause--I'm lowerin' my level
the hard rhymer--where you've never been I'm in
You want stylin'--you know it's time again
D the enemy--tellin' you to hear it
They praised the music--this time they play the lyrics"
"Playin' the role, I got soul too
Voice my opinion with volume."
"Prophets of Rage" continues in the tradition of dopeness. This is
more hardness from the PE.
"'You're quite hostile.'
'I've got a right to be hostile--my people're bein' prosecuted!'"
"To the poor, I pour it on in metaphors"
And, of course, we end with "Party for Your Right To Fight." Flav
is in one speaker and Chuck's in the other. It's a neat effect because
they are so different (whenever Chuck says "man" Flav says "boyee").
"But it's proven in fact
And it takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."
In short. This is dopeitivity. This is a very good and very important
album. It is already a rap classic. That's all there is to it. If
you don't have it, go buy it. Now.
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
Peace.
"The main thing I like about New Yorkers is that they understand
that their lives are a relentless circus of horrors, ending in
death. As New Yorkers we realize this, we resign ourselves to
our fate, and we make sure that everyone else is as miserable as
we are. Good town."
-Kyle Baker, Why I Hate Saturn
--
Don't just adopt opinions, | \ / | Charles Lee Isbell
develop them. | \/ | Homeboy from hell, living axiom and
------------------------------| /\ | anonymous absolute ruler of the cosmos
MIT has no opinions to adopt. | / \ | isbell@athena.mit.edu, isbell@ai.mit.edu