Next year, this single -- one of the most powerful protest songs of my or any generation -- will turn 20 years old.
The first time I heard it, the sonic assault was like a kick to the chest -- and two decades later, it's lost none of its righteous fury. The damn song still gives me chills.
Long before hip-hop became little more than a goofy caricature, and long before Flavor Flav allowed himself to become the shameful cliché of undignified minstrelsy his bandmates once stood so strongly against, there was this:
The mighty Public Enemy, with Fight the Power.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Listening Post
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4 comments:
chuck d really drives the boat on that one. flav looks like he has happily, but accidentally stumbled upon a party in which he was an eagerly anticipated guest.
pretty much a buffoon even then.
conscious rap...where have you gone?
Chez - Excellent choice man. No one can mess with P.E.
Luke - Public Enemy is still putting out albums, though without the backing of a major label. And since they've left Def Jam, their tunes sound much like their earlier work (up to Apocalypse '91) did.
I wanted to be an S1W. Damn it.
I always associate this song with the film Do The Right Thing, both of which did much to shape my teenage view of the world.
Of course, most of that had to do with Rosie Perez dancing in the opening sequence. Man, did I think she was hot. I think I watched that movie 50 times at least.
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