What you missed while sleeping on Public Enemy
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 3, 2010
There's no doubt that leagues of Public Enemy fans have remained devoted through the decades — few can headline across the planet on pure nostalgia. But it's also no secret that the American public has missed out on some recent career highlights. Here go three standout moments that we'll be commemorating 20 years from now.
"HARDER THAN YOU THINK" | This horn-fucked ear smacker was the first single off Public Enemy's 2007 disc How Do You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? (Slam Jamz). The beat is epic, Flav is a riot on the interludes, and Chuck reminds us that you can't have a greatest-MC-of-all-time conversation without mentioning his name. If this doesn't inspire dormant fans to rejoin the fold, nothing will.
SXSW 2007 | Much of the current Public Enemy anniversary hysteria can be traced back to the group's 20th and, more specifically, to their sky-raising outdoor performance at Auditorium Shores in Austin during South by Southwest 2007. It's no small feat being the most discussed of several thousand acts, but Chuck and the gang seemed to pull it off with ease.
"SAY IT LIKE IT REALLY IS" | Just leaked this past week, and Chuck tells me it's a birthday present to himself (he turned 50 this past Sunday). The title sums it up: Public Enemy have never minced words, and, if anything, Chuck is getting more blunt with age. He might be twice as old as most Billboard rappers, but he's also twice as smart and four times more enlightened.
