The album I want to talk about
today is by one of the true innovators of hip-hop. This was It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us
Back by the great Public Enemy. Coming off of their first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, which had gone
almost unnoticed by the hip-hop community, the group was looking to create
something that the hip-hop community was not accustomed to hearing. By the
early 1980s, the bulk of the civil rights movement had already already passed,
but this did not mean lives for African Americans were ideal. In fact, lives in
New York were far from it. Injustices, hardships, and societal problems still
existed for African Americans, as well as any other citizens at the time.
Public enemy, all growing up in Long Island, New York, understood from first
hand experience what it was like to be treated unjustly and saw the problems
that the world was facing. Rather than fighting back against with violence,
they decided to fight back with their music. Through the artistic genius of
Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, and Terminator X, Public Enemy created
an album that spoke about reality. It is an album focused on the problems in
society, the media, and politics through the eyes of the group. “Views on the
music may conflict, but they’ve always focused on truth and justice”, says
Chuck D when discussing his music. This is the epitome of their album “It Takes
A Nation of Millions to Hold us Back.”
The genius behind this work of art
is Public Enemy’s very own Chuck D. He was hardly the first artist to tackle
any of these social and political issues, but he approached them in a way that
was revolutionary to the hip-hop world. Most other artists of this time such as
N.W.A were rapping about these sociopolitical issues in a negative way. They
went the violent route and rapped about killing police and doing drugs on their
way to expressing their feelings about the injustices they were facing. Even
though these injustices were happening, the focus of people’s attention was not
as much on the problems they discussed, but rather the culture of violence they
portrayed. This group did huge things for the hip-hop community; however, it
didn’t do much for bringing attention to the problems at hand. Public enemy
went in the opposite direction. They created a masterpiece utilizing a clear
voice and an intelligent use of vocabulary in a way to express the groups
controlled rage towards the problems in their community. “Don’t Believe the
Hype” discusses political instability and unfairness, “She Watch Channel
Zero?!” points out the stupidity of the media, and “Bring
The Noise” lays out the issues each and every African American is facing when it
comes to racism. Public Enemy is telling a story through each of these songs
which allows them to connect with the audience better.
“It Takes a Nation of Millions to
Hold Us Back” uses an incredible combination of conversational rapping, with
Chuck D and Flavor Flav going back and forth, as well as a turntable to create
a unique sound. The use of conversational rapping gives the songs a more personal
connection to the songs because it resembles people discussing these topics. By
conversation I mean there is one verse where Chuck D would rap about being
discriminated against as he does in “Bring the Noise” and then Flava Flav
responds, “Ayo chuck, they’re saying we’re too black, man.” Not only does this
create a deeper connection with the song, but I it makes it more hype. I know I
have said a lot about how the album is trying to send a message, but that is
not all the album has to offer. The album is extremely catchy! The beats of the
songs sound slightly jazzy and creates a very unique mood that kept me
listening.
I think the best thing about this
album for me is the oddness of how everything comes together. “Show ‘Em Whatcha
Got” is a prime example. The song has a jazzy background music, the repetition
of “Show’Em Whatcha Got” by one voice and the repetition of “Public enemy
number 1” by another voice, a turntable to alter the way phrases are said, and
a voice that sounds like it is coming straight from a civil rights rally. None
of these things would seemingly go together, yet Public Enemy flat out makes it
work! This is what the album is all about in a musical sense. It uses a wide
variety of samples that are put together to play with the listener’s emotions.
The samples and rap combined takes sounds and rhythms that normally would not
go together and puts them together to make a unique yet, captivating sound.
The catchiness, creativeness, and innovativeness combined
with the message of the album as a whole makes a piece of art that is
unmistakably great. If this isn’t in the discussion for the best hip-hop albums
of all time, then I don’t know what else would. An album like this may very
likely never happen again!
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