CD Odyssey Disc 630: Public Enemy

I didn’t get to the gym again today and my body is starting to notice. Lack of gym time plus two straight weeks without a game of ulti and I need some exercise bad. I can feel my mid-forties body starting to fall apart. As my friend and gym-buddy Chris is fond of pointing out, “entropy’s a bitch.”

Disc 630 is….Yo! Bum Rush the Show

Artist: Public Enemy

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover? The band gathers around a turntable, looking serious, although about what is unclear. There is a harsh light glaring down and with Chuck D dressed in white, it looks a bit like an operation room. The other band members need to scrub up though – it doesn’t look like a sterile environment to me.

Then again, the glaring light also seems to imply an interrogation. I like to think they are interrogating their music. All art needs to be interrogated a bit by the person taking it in – that’s how it reveals its secrets.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of Public Enemy so this was just me buying another album of theirs on spec.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Public Enemy albums, and while “It Takes a Nation of Millions” is easily my favourite, it is a close call between this album and “Fear Of A Black Planet.” Despite “that album’s critical acclaim I’ve got to put “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” in second. If nothing else it accomplishes in twelve tracks what it takes “Fear of a Black Planet” twenty to get done.

And for those with incredibly short term memory, here is the recap since it is my last Public Enemy review pending buying more of their catalogue:

1. It Takes A Nation of Millions: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 513)
2. Yo! Bum Rush the Show: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Fear of a Black Planet: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 480)

Rating:  4 stars

If you’d ever wondered what Public Enemy would sound like if they would just lighten up and rap about sweet rides and fly girls, then listen to “Yo! Bum Rush the Show.”

Public Enemy’s first album is considerably more traditional than either of their next two (and more famous) records, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it on this basis. This is top-tier rap from the late eighties and as good as anything else you’ll hear at that time.

While present, the layers of sampling that Public Enemy is famous for is not as thick here either, but if anything this just lets Chuck D’s rap genius shine through. He is one of rap’s great vocalists and with simpler beats and sparser samples his power comes through that much clearer. Even Flavour Flav is at his nasally best. While not as consistently brilliant on the mic as Chuck D, Flav has his moments. On “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” he generally gets more opportunities to show off his skills, particularly on “Too Much Posse” and “M.P.E.” the latter of which he alternates verses with Chuck D and holds his own.

As I noted at the top, Public Enemy raps about some of the traditional early subjects here, starting with the opening track “You’re Gonna Get Yours” which is a love song about an unlikely car – the Oldsmobile 98 (n.b. ‘98’ is the model, not the year).

If you don’t know, the Oldsmobile 98 is a true full-sized sedan. I’m more of a Springsteen muscle car kind of guy, but for Chuck D his Oldsmobile 98 is like a laden Spanish galleon. It’s a big, bold beauty that’s broad and loose in its handling. It is a ponderous and powerful symbol of wealth. My favourite line:

“I’d rub my boomerang – feeling proud

And I wouldn’t even hear them cause my radio’s loud

Cruisin’ down the boulevard

Treated like a superstar

You know the time so don’t look hard

Get with it – the ultimate homeboy car.”

This song is followed up by the perfect pairing of a rock guitar riff with Chuck’s ‘rolling thunder’ rap style on “Sophisticated Bitch” a song about a man-eater. This song reminded me of Ice T, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn his work would be positively influenced by early Public Enemy.

A lot of “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” sticks to my favourite old school rap subject, namely the “I can rap better than you” game. Thirty years into the art form that is rap music, the “I can rap better than you” game is still the best game in town. Public Enemy lays down a clutch of these songs on their debut album and they’re all good.

 From “Miuzi Weighs a Ton”:

“Accused of assault – a 1^st degree crime

Cause I beat competitors with my rhymes

Tongue whipped, pushed, shoved and tripped

Choked from the hold of my Kung Fu grip.”

And from “Public Enemy No. 1”

“Well I’m all in  - put it up on the board

Another rapper shot down from the mouth that roared.”

Having proved that they can rap about rapping as furiously as any of their peers, Public Enemy still finds a few choice spots to deliver their message of black empowerment. The title track calls out racial inequality on the systemic side, but Public Enemy never sits on their laurels and blames the state; at its core theirs is always a proactive message.

“Megablast” is a cautionary tale about the dangers of getting addicted to crack, and “Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)” calls for people to take responsibility for their actions, not just blame The Man:

“Our solution – mind revolution

Mind over matter – mouth in motion

Corners don’t sell it – no you can’t buy it

Can’t defy it cause I’ll never be quiet

Let’s start this right.”

As careers go, Public Enemy certainly took their own advice, getting started right and staying strong. For a debut record “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” is ambitious and in your face, and it sets the stage for the career one of rap’s most enduring, influential and important acts.

Best tracks:   You’re Gonna Get Yours, Sophisticated Bitch, Miuzi Weighs a Ton, Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man), Public Enemy No. 1,