Public Enemy

When one starts playing a song, sometimes you realize that behind it there is much more than just notes and rhythms. In the case of Public Enemy, what immediately catches your attention is the power of their message. They formed in 1985 in Long Island, New York, and from the start, Chuck D and Flavor Flav knew they wanted to use hip hop to address important issues, such as racism in the United States and how the media presented things. Their first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 and received very positive feedback. But it was with It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in 1988, that they made history: it was the first hip hop album to reach the top of The Village Voice’s critics’ list.

The way they built their sound and their impact can be seen in their later works. Albums like Fear of a Black Planet (1990), Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black (1991), and Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994) continued to be very well-received. What’s interesting is that these first four albums, released between the late 80s and early 90s, earned gold or platinum certifications. By 1998, critic Robert Hilburn was already calling it "the most acclaimed body of work ever made by a hip hop artist." And Stephen Thomas Erlewine, another critic, described them as "the most influential and radical band of their time."