Whatcha Gonna Do? Rap Is Not Afraid Of You

On Bring the Noise from "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back", Public Enemy's appropriately named Bomb Squad production crew unleashes an expertly controlled explosion of hard funk, jazz, industrial, and deftly scratched records. Bring the Noise is a ferocious, angry, genuine piece of art akin to listening to a riot. It still resonates after three decades and counting.

I have never been as late to a party as I am to the Public Enemy party. (My mid-western upbringing is showing.) In 8th grade, my buddy, Chris, had a sick Public Enemy t-shirt. I credit Chris with introducing me to the Beastie Boys, who have a similar frenetic but decidedly more lighthearted and juvenile style. It was twenty more years before I discovered Public Enemy all over again.

Being a big rock and metal guy, especially when I was younger and angrier, I had been listening to Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down long before I got into Public Enemy. When I started listening, it felt like I found a piece of a puzzle I didn't even know was missing.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the album title? "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" might be one of the most succinctly hardcore counterculture statements I've heard. It's poetry, and Chuck D has more where that came from.

Chuck D's martial sociopolitical flow is balanced by Flavor Flav's over-the-top persona and style, bringing much-needed fun to the proceedings. The contrast is compelling, and Chuck D's erudite commentary in Baritone, punctuated by Flavor Flav's outsized hype-man shenanigans, makes for a potent cocktail.

The Bomb Squad production crew (which includes Chuck D, credited by his given name, Carl Ryder) pioneered a dense, frantic style incorporating dozens of samples per track. Bring the Noise is no exception. There's plenty to listen to, including jazz horns, kit drums, drum machines, reversed drum tracks layered with record scratches, and sirens. Not to mention the iconic opening "too black, too strong" sample from Malcolm X's 1963 "Message to the Grass Roots" speech.

This song is a playground for your stereo's mid-drivers and tweeters. I like to bring up the low end with a little EQ, which I find funny in a song whose first verse opens with Chuck D shouting, "BASS! How low can you go?" Public Enemy also released a "no noise" version, eliminating the noise samples and leaving only the musical and vocal sounds. And there is an instrumental version. And an a cappella version. These are all on disc 2 of "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (Deluxe Edition)." If you like this track, peeling back the layers with these is fun.

No matter the version, Public Enemy commands, "Turn it Up! Bring the Noise!" Can do.

Data

Song: Bring The Noise
Album: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Artist: Public Enemy
Genre: Rap
Year: 1988
Length: 3:46
Composer: Carlton Ridenhour, Charlie Benante, Daniel Alan Spitz, Eric Sadler, Frank Joseph Bello, George Clinton, Hank Shocklee, Joseph Bellardini, Scott lan Rosenfeld
Producer: The Bomb Squad; Carl Ryder, Hank Shocklee,
James Henry Boxley III, Rick Rubin
Vocals: Chuck D, Flavor Flav