Public Enemy Album: “Rebirth of a Nation”

Public Enemy and their collaborators continue to inspire and amaze, and contribute to an international movement of consciousness raising. I've been discovering (r)evolutionary rap artists around the world and, time and again, they cite PE as a sort of guiding North star. Public Enemy, Dead Prez and others who bring the real noise have been performing and networking at global hip-hop conferences in places like Caracas and Havana. They've inspired the "Dope Poet Society" in Canada, "K'Naan" from Somalia, and countless groups from Latin America. I don't know much Spanish, but groups like "Zona Marginal" of Colombia (who have received death threats from the paramilitaries for their lyrics), "Actitud Maria Marta" from Argentina, and "Boca Floja" from Mexico have moved me to pick up a Spanish/English dictionary.

Let each one teach one, and pass along Public Enemy's latest to those who have been hypnotized by the rap that gets played on the empire's airwaves. Let's also support the rap artists in other parts of the world who share the vision of justice that Public Enemy reignites with each disc.

http://www.hiphoprevolucion.org

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet renounce controversy are people who want crops without ploughing the ground."

-Frederick Douglass, 1817-1895

First off I have been listening to Paris since "Devil Made Me Do It" and Public Enemy since "Yo Bum Rush The Show". - I remember clearly thinking awhile back man just imagine if Paris & P.E. teamed up for a whole album. - Rewind about 4 years I hear a track with P.E. featuring Paris on the Revolvolution album. Now here it is 2006 finally my vision actually came together. I have to say I do wish this happened back in the 90's or at least before mainstream rap got narrowed to booty, bling & smoke / drinkin.. - But better now than never. On to the album. I am giving this 5 stars mainly because it flows pretty smoothly song to song. - Chuck d throwback flows is a nice revisit without sounding corny. Paris flows are especially furious and not dated, put it this way if he was into battle rap dude would be scary. Flav is flav as usual and his track is one of my favorite's cause it catches him having fun which is a good balance to the overall serious tone to the record. All the guest appearences from Mc Ren to Concious Daughters fit as perfect as possible. One appearence to note is Griff's verse dude really put his work in on that track and it does'nt come off forced. Sonically and trackwise everything is tight and definately bumps in the car. My overall comment is definately give it a serious listen cause this is not Dem Franchize Fools,Nelly,Fiddy or Diddy. Besides this will outlast all that other nonsense based on its content. Just stop making excuses and buy a copy or two.

Artist: Public Enemy

Album: Rebirth of a Nation

Label: Guerrilla Funk

Rebirth of a Nation is Public Enemy's 11th studio album. It is also the first album where frontman Chuck D delegated most of the writing & all of the production duties. Bay Area-based rapper Paris serves as chief lyricist and producer for this project, and it's released on his own Guerrilla Funk label. With his own history as a politically minded rapper, Paris is a sympathetic facilitator for the hard-edged social commentary that Public Enemy is known for. Rebirth follows barely six months after the band's New Whirl Odor release late last year. But Rebirth is decidedly not a bunch of leftover session cuts. Paris manages to bring out the best in Chuck, Flavor Flav and Professor Griff on the LP's 16 tracks. Rebirth's rhythm tracks take cues from Public Enemy's early releases, updated with the decidedly funk-driven soundscapes that Paris is known for. Samples are mostly eschewed for live instruments, adding to the LP's organic feel.

The title track, a play on words from the D.W. Griffith movie, finds Chuck announcing Public Enemy's return to a hip-hop world that has gotten more grim since they first came on the scene: "We come rough with the rhythm and rhymes that pack 'em in/ Bust with the rhythm that shine back once again/ Still ride with releases reaching each/ Still strive to revive and keep the peace.." "Plastic Nation" indicts plastic surgery obsession: "Was all part of the plan to keep her lookin' right/ Figured she could be Janet if she took the knife/ It's not a sin to be thin, she tryin' hard to fit in/ Knowin' soon she'll be a citizen of the plastic nation." "Hell No We Ain't Alright" laments the Hurricane Katrina tragedy: "Shelter? Food? Wasssup, where's the water? No answers from disaster, them masses be hurtin'/ So who... they call, Halliburton? Son of a Bush, how you gonna trust that cat?"

Paris himself takes the spotlight on a handful of tracks, including "Hannibal Lecture": "Same racism profiling each of us all/ Same outsiders where we live enforcing the law/ Gats clappin' on the streets, gunplayin' with heat/ Same prisons full of brothers herded in like sheep." Other guests making their voices known on the LP include N.W.A. alumnus M.C. Ren and former Ice Cube protégé Kam. Flavor Flav's solo talents are highlighted on the whimsical "They Call Me Flavor": "Good morning heartaches and tell me what's new/ Got nothin' else to do but drink brew/ Tryin' to feel the flow, gettin' so low/ Standin' here drinkin' a quart of Old Gold." Flav keeps it professional here, managing to avoid plugging his many reality show stints.

Public Enemy's Bomb Squad produced California rapper Ice Cube's first LP back in 1990. Sixteen years later, Public Enemy finds reinvention in another west-coast colleague and a solid showcase for a veteran hip-hop band.

I heard that Terminator X wasnt with Public Enemy anymore and that made me hesitate to listen to this record. Im glad I did because this is probably the best most influential rap album ive ever listened to, and it will take a strong one to pass this one by. This album is great, with guests Paris and MC Ren. You have to listen to it.

it is about time some real niggas stood up and said what needed to be said im tired of this weak crap on the radio and video all day long saying absolutely nothing over whack ass RnB beats im like where the hell are the gods at they need to take these boot licking cornbread eating uncle tom DJs hostage and play some real hip hop.aint nothing like listening to the knowledge of self over tight gangster beats and thats exactly what this album is paris,mc ren,kam,dead prez,chuck and griff spittin straight revolutionary fire