Fear of a Black Planet

by Public Enemy

Overview

At the time of its release in March 1990 -- just a mere two years after It Takes a Nation of Millions -- nearly all of the attention spent on Public Enemy's third album, Fear of a Black Planet, was concentrated on the dying controversy over Professor Griff's anti-Semitic statements of 1989, and how leader Chuck D bungled the public relations regarding his dismissal. References to the controversy are scattered throughout the album -- and it fueled the incendiary lead single, "Welcome to the Terrordome" -- but years later, after the furor has died down, what remains is a remarkable piece of modern art, a record that ushered in the '90s in a hail of multiculturalism and kaleidoscopic confusion. It also easily stands as the Bomb Squad's finest musical moment. Where Millions was all about aggression -- layered aggression, but aggression nonetheless -- Fear of a Black Planet encompasses everything, touching on seductive grooves, relentless beats, hard funk, and dub reggae without blinking an eye. All the more impressive is that this is one of the records made during the golden age of sampling, before legal limits were set on sampling, so this is a wild, endlessly layered record filled with familiar sounds you can't place; it's nearly as heady as the Beastie Boys' magnum opus, Paul's Boutique, in how it pulls from anonymous and familiar sources to create something totally original and modern. While the Bomb Squad were casting a wider net, Chuck D's writing was tighter than ever, with each track tackling a specific topic (apart from the aforementioned "Welcome to the Terrordome," whose careening rhymes and paranoid confusion are all the more effective when surrounded by such detailed arguments), a sentiment that spills over to Flavor Flav, who delivers the pungent black humor of "911 Is a Joke," perhaps the best-known song here. Chuck gets himself into trouble here and there -- most notoriously on "Meet the G That Killed Me," where he skirts with homophobia -- but by and large, he's never been so eloquent, angry, or persuasive as he is here. This isn't as revolutionary or as potent as Millions, but it holds together better, and as a piece of music, this is the best hip-hop has ever had to offer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/26/1994
Label:	Def Jam
UPC:	0731452344625

Tracks

1. Contract on the World Love Jam
2. Brothers Gonna Work It Out
3. 911 Is a Joke
4. Incident at 66.6 FM
5. Welcome to the Terrordome
6. Meet the G That Killed Me
7. Pollywanacraka
8. Anti-Nigger Machine
9. Burn Hollywood Burn
10. Power to the People
11. Who Stole the Soul?
12. Fear of a Black Planet
13. Revolutionary Generation
14. Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man
15. Reggie Jax
16. Leave This Off Your Fu*kin Charts
17. B Side Wins Again
18. War at 33 1/3
19. Final Count of the Collison Between Us and the Damned
20. Fight the Power

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Public Enemy   Primary Artist
Big Daddy Kane   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Ice Cube   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Stats.1   Guest Artist
Branford Marsalis   Guest Artist,Saxophone
Carl Ryder   Director,Sequencing
Keith Shocklee   Director,Sequencing
Flavor Flav   Rap
Eric "Vietnam" Sadler   Director,Sequencing
Chuck D   Vocals
Norman Rogers   Scratching
Hank Shocklee   Director,Sequencing

Technical Credits

The Bomb Squad   Producer,Producer,Remixing
Carl Ryder   Producer,Arranger
Dave Patillo   Assistant Engineer
Dan Wood   Mixing,Engineer
O'Shea Jackson   Composer
Ahmir Thompson   Composer
Terrence Smith   Editing
Shayne Sealy   Editing
William Drayton   Composer
Paul Eulin   Mixing,Engineer
Carlton Ridenhour   Composer,Producer
Tariq Trotter   Composer
Paul Shabazz   Programming
Steve Loeb   Engineer
Bernie Worrell   Composer
Keith Shocklee   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Kirk Yano   Engineer
Bootsy Collins   Composer
Christopher Shaw   Mixing,Engineer
Eric "Vietnam" Sadler   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Programming
Rod Hui   Mixing,Engineer,Remixing
Jules Allen   Photography
Norman Rogers   Composer
Antonio M. Hardy   Composer
Tom Conway   Assistant Engineer
George Clinton   Composer
Antonio Hardy   Composer
Brian Dennis   Remixing
Garry Shider   Composer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Nick Sansano   Mixing,Engineer
Hank Shocklee   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Zack de la Rocha   Composer
Chris Champion   Assistant Engineer
S. Jervier   Remixing
Mike Bona   Mixing,Engineer
David Spradley   Composer