Public Enemy ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ 25th Anniversary
This week marked the 25th Anniversary of the release of Public Enemy’s sample heavy classic ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ (released 10th April 1990). Sonically following in the footsteps of 1988’s sophomore LP ‘It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back’, the album broke new ground in its use of samples with heavily layered cuts delivering busy but memorable backdrops to the album’s political lyrical content. Among the album’s memorable moments are Fight the Power (a cut previously featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1989 movie ‘Do The Right Thing’) and ‘Welcome to the Terrordome’ (both released as singles). Flava Flav played a more central role on this than previous albums leading on two further singles from LP, ‘911 Is A Joke’ and ‘Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man’. ‘Welcome to the Terrordome’ appears on our 1990 Rap Megamix (the single topping Ego Trip’s Top 25 Rap Singles of 1990). The album coming in at number three on their list of the year’s Top 25 Rap Albums.
Public Enemy fans will know the group has traditionally been somewhat protective over their online presence with few tracks other than live versions having an official presence on Youtube. Thanks however to Youtube’s recent taking of matters into their own hands, the album is now present in full.
Stream the full album on Youtube here.
[Purchase physical copies / check release details on Discogs here]