Book description
Public Enemy are one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time.
Exploding out of Long Island, New York in the early 1980s, their
firebrand lyrical assault, the Bomb Squad's innovative production
techniques, and their unmistakeable live performances gave them a
formidable reputation. They terrified the establishment, and have
continued to blaze a trail over a twenty year period up until the
present day. Today, they are more autonomous and as determined as ever,
still touring and finding more ingenious ways of distributing their
music. Russell Myrie has had unprecedented access to the group,
conducting extensive interviews with Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X,
Professor Griff, the Shocklee brothers, and many others who form part of
their legacy. He tells the stories behind the making of seminal albums
such as their debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the breakthrough It Takes a
Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, and multi-million selling Fear of a
Black Planet. He tackles Professor Griff's alleged anti-semitic remarks
which caused massive controversy in the late eighties, the complexities
of the group's relationship with the Nation of Islam, their huge
crossover appeal with the alternative audience in the early nineties,
and the strange circumstances of Flavor Flav's re-emergence as a Reality
TV Star since the turn of the millennium.
