Independent Research Entry: Public Enemy

Independent Research Entry: Public Enemy

Composed of Carlton Ridenhour(Chuck D.), Hank Shocklee (Producer), Bill Stephney (Publicist), Norman Rogers(DJ Terminator X), Richard Griffin (Professor Griff) and William Drayton (Flavor Flav), Public Enemy was quite possibly one of the most influential Hip-Hop groups of their generation. To thoroughly understand the climate of the era, though, some background information is required.

Imagine that it is the early 1980’s. The crack cocaine epidemic is just beginning to hit it’s stride, and to make matters worse there’s this hot new disease called A.I.D.S. that’s beginning to affect the inner-city youth in mass quantities. Contributing to the problem are officials tasked with law-enforcement who are being educated by their governing authorities in ever more creative ways to terrorize a segment of the population whom they envision to be a plague on society. This is the backdrop that played host to the music of Public Enemy.

Public Enemy’s message was as revolutionary as their music was; and appropriately so. The first three members of the group were united by their love of Hip-Hop and their socially conscious sensibilities. Chuck D., Hank Shocklee and Bill Stephney were united by their common sentiments over the fractured state of society and more specifically, their community.

From these humble beginnings grew the Public Enemy that we remember today. The group of three began developing their own sound with Shocklee as the resident beat-smith and Chuck D. as the lyricist. Their on-air exploits soon caught the attention of top brass at Def Jam recordings, eventually leading to their signing to the label and the restructuring of Public Enemy to it’s above mentioned configuration.

The music of Public Enemy contained something that the Hip-Hop had been, and once again is missing. Their music contained a relevant and conscious message. It had substance. In an era when they could have easily went the path of every other rap group and glorified “the hustle” and it’s associated subject matter, they took the higher path of educating their fan-base of what was really going on in society and the negative effect it was having. In addition, their music was equally trend setting. The innovative use of samples by Shocklee’s Bomb Squad production crew combined with the formidable turntable skills of DJ Terminator X, gave Public Enemy a sound that was vastly different from other Hip-Hop music of the time. The variety of music sampled and the creative ways that it was altered for the groups use, pioneered uncharted audio soundscapes and definitively changed the game.

As if their uniqueness wasn’t enough, the contributions of Public Enemy to music were not only limited to Hip-Hop. Their practice of mastering their albums to produce maximum volume across all media is a practice still in use today; especially in radio.

As an industry professional, I respect Public Enemy’s artistic decision in their mastering process, although I doubt they fully understood how it would affect the future of audio mixing and mastering somewhat negatively. As a listener, I have an immense appreciation for this groups courage to be different from what was the accepted norm, and I personally feel that their unique and socially conscious awareness is something that is missing from Hip-Hop, and mainstream music as a whole today.

Erlewine, S. T. (n.d.). Public Enemy | AllMusic. AllMusic. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/public-enemy-p86/biography

Howard, D. N. (2004). The Beat Scientists. Sonic alchemy: visionary music producers and their maverick recordings (1. ed., pp. 272-277). Milwaukee: Hal Leonard.