Beyond the Hype

Public Enemy 12 Inch Prophets of Rage

In the last edition of Vinyl Notes, I covered the master lyricist KRS-One. A leader of politically driven, socially conscious Hip Hop, this rapper came up with some of the most powerful early voices in the genre, the #1 being Public Enemy #1. The two shared a similar message, anger and style. They also shared a stage on more than one occasion and collaborated on songs.

Like KRS-One, Public Enemy put politics at the forefront of their music and never sugar coated the corruption and inequality they witnessed. The group’s popularity only made the message that much more important because they were reaching so many ears from so many diverse circumstances. The group was part of the evolution of Hip Hop. Their stylized lyricism and complexity of subject matter re-envisioned the path that Melle Mel plotted. Music that spoke to real issues facing the nation and world.

Public Enemy demonstrated the flexibility of Hip Hop, another early example of how the genre became an inspiration for nearly every other genre of music. While Run-DMC deservedly gets full credit for being the first Hip Hop group to cross the rock divider line and record with Aerosmith, it was Public Enemy’s collaboration with metal band Anthrax that opened up a whole new way to look at the two seemingly distant genres. Without it, who knows if there would have been a Rage Against the Machine or Linkin Park, to name a few.

This one from my collection is a 12 inch out of the UK. It includes the 2005 re-release of the songs Prophets of Rage, Don’t Believe the Hype and an a cappella version of The Rhythm, The Rebel.