Disco de Public Enemy: “Power to the People & The Beats Public Enemy's Gre”

I can't believe this compilation. I have most all these tracks from their albums or singles on various forms of media (tape, vinyl, CD) and I can't believe some the songs have "beeps" in them. It's selective censoring, because you'll have songs like, "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" and "Fight the Power", but then you'll have a less popular track like, "He Got Game" uncensored (in fact Chuck and co. use the F word more in that song, than probably any other song they've ever recorded).

So a big thumbs down for me. I'd rather just rip all my favorite tracks onto my comp and recompile uncensored. It just seems to go against what this group stands for with the inclusion of the beeps. I'm sure somewhere along the way someone made a mistake, because it's just trivial that some are censored while others are not. And yes, I made sure that I had a supposedly "uncensored" copy (i.e. not from Walmart).

Do yourself a favor and buy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, Fear of a Black Planet, and Yo! Bum Rush the Show separately.

In the liner notes of this compilation, political activist Harry Allen alludes back to the Matrix and Neo's experience of choosing the "red pill", in turn going upon a journey beyond his imagination.

It's an apt allusion.

For Harry Allen, and countless others, Public Enemy was their musical red pill - the artform which changed the way they saw their world. It changed the way they thought about music and the way that music can enact change and open minds.

Like Bob Marley and the Clash before them and Rage Against the Machine after them, Public Enemy made music that hit on two levels. One, the sheer gut level - strong musicianship, attitude, and power. Two, the emotional level - articulate, incendiary rants about empowerment, poverty, injustice - with lines that stick with you. Comparatively, while Bob Marley snuck his messages behind laid-back reggae beats ("Redemption Song", "Get Up Stand Up", "No Woman No Cry" to name a few), Public Enemy did not hide behind a peaceful shroud. They came out fighting from the first note.

They were fierce and frightening then - and still sound that way now. Whereas hip-hop circa 2005 has since gravitated into a wasteland of bling, loose women, and transparent toughness, Public Enemy said something - and said something smart. While other rappers were embracing the gangster culture of 40s and crime, Public Enemy was pointing out how the black population was eliminating itself with such habits. One wishes they could say the same about current rappers. It's equally difficult to see/hear many modern MCs spit out lines like, "freedom is a road seldom travelled by the multitude" or even "Human beings screaming vocal javelins/signs of a local man unravellin." Popular modern rappers simply don't rap with the same conviction and higher purpose.

Like much great, Public Enemy was different. In their time, they were always a step ahead. They wrote some of the best (if not the best) hip hop of their era, though it never found a market niche. Public Enemy was too tough for radio, too serious and too "left" for mass appeal. What they said scared people - because they were right...and weren't shy about saying what they saw. They were the most frightening element of human nature - they were a truth serum, once dubbed the "CNN for black culture."

Music and politics have always been a powerful mix. Most artists stay away from politics because it usually kills commercial appeal, paints them into a corner, and makes them too many enemies for actually saying something. Public Enemy possessed courage to confront the injustice, and the articulation/cleverness/artistic artistry to turn it into something musically powerful.

On "Power to the People and the Beats" - it's all here, eighteen tracks of the Public Enemy history. While not a complete discography of their greatest, it serves as an excellent introduction to their music and politics, each song hitting hard both musically and lyrically, from opener "You're Gonna Get Yours" (1987) to closer "He Got Game" (1998).

Those new to Public Enemy are in for a treat to discover what they missed. Those familar will marvel at how fresh and powerful the group sounds here - a combination of time and studio remastering - makes the group sound as important and formidable as ever. Highest recommendation.

The song selection for this collection is great, everything that should be here is here. However, many of the songs have been edited to delete any swearing in the music. "Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos" is edited down to three and a half minutes (I'm guessing that this version was the "radio edit version"), which is my least favorite thing about this compilation being that "Black Steel" is one of my favorite P.E. tracks. Even more annoying is that the swearing is actually bleeped in "Black Steel" instead of just edited like in the other songs. Inexplicably, "He Got Game", (which has a swear in the chorus), did not get the editing treatment. This collection serves as a good introduction to Public Enemy's music and message, but the editing does water the message down. This disc definitely does not serve as a substitute for all the great albums P.E. has put out since the eighties. Also, after hearing their latest album "New Whirl Odor", I'm sure that a "Greatest Hits Volume 2" will be needed.

Public Enemy was one of the most influential and controversial groups in the late 80's and early 90's but could also provide songs to simply nod your head to and just enjoy.With the easily recognizable booming voice of fromntman Chuck D to the human fircracker Flavor Flav,P.E. spread a message about awareness and about the current events for the time.Some may say to listen to the music now is just to take a walk down memeory lane when hip hop was not all about "blinging" and bragging about being shot 40 times.And while they may be true,younger generations should give this any P.E. album a listen to as a message to them that yes hip hop can have a message beyond partying,hoes and stacking chips.While the subject matter may be a bit dated,and the beats aren't up to todays mix standards,P.E. always went their own route,and never lost their integrity or conformed.Although,Flavor Flav on Surreal life can be questionable.Each track from top to bottom is great...I personally would have loved to replace "Can't do nuttin for ya man" with an earlier track from "Yo,Bum rush the show" "M.P.E"...and the Bring the noise track with "Night of the living baseheads",but as the album stands,it still deserves the 5 stars.

Explicit lyrics. Really? Not on my copy.

"Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant (silence) to me."

What the (silence)? I suppose we have Wal-Mart et al to thank for this (silence) state of affairs - they must be really (silence) scared at the thought of a Public Enemy CD buying audience being exposed to some cuss words. For (silence) sake, can you imagine anything worse? So beware: as great & powerful as the music is on this compilation, it is of the G-rated variety. Shame on you Def Jam.