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Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

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Jenkins, Craig. “Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back/Fear of a Black Planet.” Kali Uchis: Isolation Album Review | Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 25 Nov. 2014, pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19997-public-enemy-it-takes-a-nation-of-millions-to-hold-us-backfear-of-a-black-planet/. Craig Jenkins is a contributor and staff member of the online music magazine, Pitchfork, and has reviewed many hip-hop songs and albums. His review of Public Enemy’s album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, was released late into 2014 onto the Pitchfork website, a site that features many reviews, rankings, and news regarding current and older pop music and artists. This article focuses on the background and context of Public Enemy’s creation …show more content…

“Music - Review of Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.” BBC, BBC, 2008, www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/56gb/. Chris Jones is a music reviewer for BBC who has written 568 music reviews on BBC alone.Though he has reviewed many albums, he does not exclusively review hip-hop music and instead reviews a variety of genres. Jones released his music review of Public Enemy’s album in 2008 onto the BBC music website with a message that “black music could be reclaimed and re-tooled as a semantic crowbar.” This review focuses on the production on Nation and how it supported Chuck D’s style and message on the project. This source was moderately helpful to my paper as I had found much of the same information through other sources. Kim, Serena. "Afi Fest; Can't Hold Them Back; the Premiere of 'public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome' Brings Out the Bold Rappers." Los Angeles Times. (2007). …show more content…

Pizzo has previously written articles on hip-hop groups such as N.W.A and Public Enemy and has also written articles on other pop music. His article was released late 2014 onto Cuepoint, a music publication that often features articles on the opinions of artists in the genres of hip-hop and and rock. This source takes a look at the impact and legacy of the album and the group in general. Furthermore, this article explains why Nation was such a unique album for its time. This source was essential for my research as I was able to find multiple direct quotes from the artists as well as information about the unique production styles of Public Enemy’s Bomb

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These two dominating groups responded in anger and fear, with police saying that the rap group’s lyrics are provocative, intimidating, and belittling women. They ignore the fact that N.W.A is expressing the realities of violence and racism by police that they and others from Compton experience every day. In many occasions where they perform, police would encircle them and finish the concert with arrests while others riot around the city. As the story progressed, social structural factors are what drives N.W.A to create songs like “F the Police” and “Straight Outta Compton” because their surrounding circumstances are out of their control. Their mentality, values, and beliefs are affected by the harsh reality of life in Compton, from gang violence to racism; this way of life is set for them and opportunities such as getting a good education is far from what they see for themselves.

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