Public Enemy, arguably the greatest hip-hop group of all time, has released Power to the People and the Beats - Public Enemy's Greatest Hits, an 18-track best-of compilation that reminds us how much the majority of today’s hip-hop sucks.
Public Enemy was and still is the benchmark by which all other hip-hop artists are measured. Always a lightning rod for controversy (though it can be argued that they brought this on themselves), PE perfected the political rap/house style, incorporating intelligent and thought-provoking lyrics with infectious beats and first-rate mixing and production. Nobody has even come close to duplicating what PE did musically.
The strength of PE’s catalog lies in its first four albums; and fortunately, that’s what this collection features, with three additional tracks coming from later CDs. Each PE album reflected a particular time and place. Because so much of the music is political and social, the topics of the day played a big part in each album’s subject matter. This, in part, gave each record a cohesive feel. Additionally, PE sometimes incorporated various between-song “shorts” that were comprised of short musical interludes or spoken-word samples from famed speeches. These elements combined to encourage fans to listen from beginning to end instead of jumping from track to track. Unfortunately for compilations such as this, you can’t really duplicate the flow of a single studio album, much less a PE studio album.
But as far as compilations go, this one flows smoothly, with not much of an indication that its music was recorded in an 11-year span. Actually, the stuff from Yo! Bum Rush the Show sounds more like LL Cool J than the PE you know and love.
This is not PE’s first foray into greatest hits compilation-dom. There are at least two other legitimate collections, with the only notable one being 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Public Enemy. And though that collection includes two of my favorite PE tracks that were omitted here (the Anthrax version of "Bring tha Noize" and the classic "Nighttrain"), it pales in comparison to this album in every other way.
Article comments
1 - Bob A. Booey
Important politically and culturally, but overrated musically.
Dr. Dre is the Godfather of rap and he took it in new musical directions by going back to the melodies of 70s funk and even his weird classical-music type tarantella beats that are his trademark now. And he changed the SOUND of rap with NWA, even if Public Enemy had better and smarter politics.
That is all.
2 - janine
That is so wrong. First, rap wasn't invented in 1992.
Second, Terminator X brought scratching to an art form.
Third, think about Bring Da Noise; that wall of sound and spastic bpms were so much more adventurous than LL Cool J, or even Kurtis Blow musically. (Name anyone from like, 1989 and then think of anything off of "It Takes a Nation of Millions..."
Don't get me wrong, I love Dre, but you're doing a great disservice to one of the best DJs ever.
3 - janine
...and if you want to talk godfathers, why don't you check out Eric B and Rakim.
4 - Bob A. Booey
Janine, it's hot that you know so much about rap.
You're not a sista, are you? I don't know any sistas named Janine.
Sure, rap was invented way before Dre by people like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC and all the rest, but Dre defined the modern era of rap and is still arguably 1 or 1A (along with Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes and NERD) as the man behind the scenes writing the beats for the biggest hits on the radio for other artists.
Dre didn't invent it, but he modernized rap and gave it a funky, melodic sound that holds up a lot better than the spastic, rock-influenced noise of 80s rap like PE.
I'm a DJ, so I appreciate good scratching by live hip hop DJs, but it's not what I want to hear on a CD or on the radio. But I give Terminator X, PE, and the other people you listed props for being pioneers.
They just didn't have the impact and lasting legacy Dre did and still does today.
I think Chuck D's a cool, smart guy who does a lot of great things by going around now and talking to college kids about race and politics. He's just not the musical talent that Dre is.
That is all.
5 - janine
I'm a black woman, not a sista... douche.
6 - Bob A. Booey
Mmmhmmm, haaaayyyy .... Whatcha doin knowin all about rap and lookin all good like that, shawtay?
That is all.
7 - Bob A. Booey
Black girls never want me, except this one hot black girl I know who's a lil too complicated.
Is it any wonder why? :)
But seriously, black girls are my kryptonite -- they're the only ones who aren't buying what BABsie is selling. Other than that, it's game on, a United Nations of chicas.
Janine -- how does one approach a fine sista such as yourself, besides the time-honored "Haaaayyyy, shawtay"?
That is all.
8 - KEVIN
PUBLIC ENEMY IS THE BEST HIP HOP EVER
9 - DJ Godfather KC
Let me add to some of the above comments. There are many styles of rap and many listeners or rap and then there are those that knew Hip Hop when it was a baby. I have been a DJ of 30 yrs and have heard it all. Many people take credit to say that I was the 1st to do it. Back in the days we played rock beats, jazz beats, funk beats, break beats and just about any type of beat that could be mixed. Dr Dre is a very good producer. The Chronic started the forte of album production for the 90's. Public Enemy was "ill" in every aspect of Hip Hop. Before you tage great onto an artist research the music and leran the samples. I have a collection of over 10,000 records from way back and I will say this... If you heard half of the samples that Dre used he didn't change a whole lot from the original song. Listen to a song caled "I want to do something freaky to you" by Leon Haywood where Dre sampled that for Snoop Doggs "Nuthin but a G thang".
Go down to this website:
link
Many of todays producers are getting the label of genius but they "do not" create the beats that you listen to. Give them credit for finding the beats and making hits... but
g-e-n-i-u-s......... NO!
I will give credit where crdit is due. When they dig up the Hip Hop archives many years from now. People will get educated by Public Enenmy and listen to learn! No one will take away Dre's credit EVER but in a few more years when Kanye West is considered legendary. You will see what I mean. I listened to many of the original songs that Kanye West sampled and you can not even here some of the samples. That's how creative he was. Listen to "I Will" by John Holt where Kanye sampled Jay Z's record Encore. That beat may not even be a full 15 seconds but he turned it into a whole song. If you are interested in hering some of the rare/hard to find beats. I put together 21 Cds (approx 20 orginal songs - each CD) that many of todays rappers have used.
For the record. Hank Shocklee and the Bomb squad did some serious production on Public Enemies tracks throughout the years.
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