Yo! Bum Rush the Show [PA]

Performer: Public Enemy
Artist: Vernon Reid
Engineer: Steven Linsley; Steve Linsley; Steve Ett
Producer: Bill Stephney; Carl Ryder; Billy Stepney; Hank Shocklee; Bill Stephney
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Public Enemy: Chuck D, Flavor-Flav (rap vocals); Norman "Terminator X" Rogers (scratches); The Security Of The First World. Additional personnel: Vernon Reid (guitar); Bill Stephney (guitar, bass); Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler (synthesizer, drum programming); Steve Linsley (bass); Johnny "Juice" Rosado (scratches). Recorded at Spectrum City Studios, Hempstead, New York. Personnel: Chuck D (vocals); Billy Stepney, Vernon Reid, Bill Stephney (guitar); Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, Hank Shocklee (synthesizer, programming, drum programming); Johnny Juice Rosado, Norman Rogers, Terminator X (scratches). Audio Mixers: Hank Shocklee; Steve Linsley; Rick Rubin; Steven Ett; Bill Stephney. Recording information: Spectrum City Studios, Hempstead, NY. Directors: Carl Ryder; Hank Shocklee. Unknown Contributor Roles: Flavor Flav; Chuck D. Arrangers: Carl Ryder; Hank Shocklee. From "Strong Island" (Long Island, New York) came the unstoppable sound of Public Enemy, a rap band that saw itself as a vital, explicitly political voice in the black community. YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW, their debut album, filled a gap in hip-hop: raps that attempted to delineate black suffering in America, and instill pride in the place of hopelessness. The balance between Chuck D's explosive raps and Flavor Flav's humorous asides played perfectly off the scratching of DJ Terminator X. While some critics branded them "too hostile," their message spread to fans of all colors.

Q (9/95, p.132) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a stunning opening...just the first, in retrospect almost shy, step on a remarkable journey...a hard, droning extension of the basic drum`n'scratch Def Jam template that had served LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys so well..." Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - Recommended - "...It wasn't just a new sound, a discovery. It was like being struck by a meteor..." NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #49 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s. NME (Magazine) (7/15/95, p.47) - 9 (out of 10) - "...YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW announced a hip-hop group who smouldered beneath dark, sparse beats like no other, introduced us to the coolest vocal double act ever...and featured as striking a statement of intent as you could wish for in `Public Enemy Number 1'....brilliant..."

In the late 1980s, Public Enemy connected the dots between politics, soul music, hard rock, marketing, turntablism, and rhyme, and turned hip-hop into an urban global youth movement. PE's pioneering albums are heralded as avant-garde artworks whose disparate sample sources combine into a gloriously chaotic mosaic of polyphony and African-American unrest. Powered by Chuck D.'s political fury, enlivened by Flavor Flav's antics, and made controversial by Professor Griff's ethnocentrism, Public Enemy influenced virtually every rapper who followed in their wake.

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