Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday Flashback: Public Enemy




I personally would like to give a big shout to Public Enemy and congratulate them on their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on yesterday in Los Angeles. Before they were called P.E., the original name of the group was Spectrum City, which only consisted of Chuck D, Professor Griff and Flavor Flav at the time, in 1982. The first mention of the words "public enemy" was in a demo tape called Public Enemy #1 which Chuck did with Flav to fend off a rival MC and as a promo for WBAU, the radio station where they were working at the time.

With the help of Bill Stepheny, Chuck and Flav were signed to Def Jam after Rick Rubin heard the demo of the song "Public Enemy Number One". At the suggestion of Stepheny, he asked Rubin to mesh the hard style of Run-DMC with political lyrics of Chuck D that were geared toward black youth. Chuck D recruited Hank and Keith Shocklee, Eric Sadler, the collective known as The Bomb Squad, to do his production, and local mobile dj Terminator X. Topping things off with Spectrum City members Flavor Flav and Professor Griff, Public Enemy as a group was born.

For a more detailed bio, please visit the Public Enemy Official Website.

Welcome To The Terrordome: Public Enemy Tribute Mix by Djkoolemdee on Mixcloud

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