It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

We didn't own this album until today. I know, I know we should be ashamed and we are. This is the greatest hip hop album of all time. Public Enemy's second album of 1988, It Takes a Nation of Millions... is an unrelenting masterpiece. We really don't have a right to blog about this after two listens, let alone the fact that we are white, middle class, public servants in Australia, however that's never stopped wangs on the internet before. And we're drinking prosecco with campari - ha!

This album is intense, cutting and political. Chuck D's lyrics are aggressive and challenging and still uncomfortable - "They could not understand that I'm a black man And I could never be a veteran". And he doesn't let up for 16 tracks. Flavor adds a randomness to it that doesn't leave you completely alienated from the album. We can only imagine how these sorts of lyrics revolutionised hip hop. Gangsta rappers claimed to be inspired by PE - you can't help but think that Chuck D would have been embarrassed by the violent, cowardly misogyny of the worst of west coast rap.

And the music is simply brilliant. Sonically it more than matches Chuck D's lyrical prowess. The tense, in-your-face beats don't relent for the entire album - each song fits seamlessly into the next without being repetitive. You want to dance but also thrash your head. Somehow Terminator X, Eric 'Vietnam' Sadler and Hank Shocklee bring together a crap load of samples to form a entirely new and never beaten sound.

Don't Believe The Hype is the quintessential track.  Chuck D's flow is rythmic, fluid and resonant, while Flavor chimes in with the rousing chant. The beats are undeniable and exhausting, like you're in the middle or a riot with sirens blaring and drums thumping. Like all the tracks, the music is tense, wired and antagonistic.

Chuck D spits on love songs on Caught, Can I Get a Witness: "You singers are spineless. As you sing your senseless song to the mindless. Your general subject love is minimal. It's sex for profit."
So I wonder how he feels about Flavor Flav's ridiculous Flavor of Love...or appearance on Celebrity Wife Swap? Though he's always been a wack-job. I guess sex for profit always wins in the end.

This album remains hugely influential. Its a call to arms that hasn't really been beaten and it marks an era of rappers long gone. It's never too late to get on the bandwagon.