Fear of a Black Planet

I continue to be surprised by how much I appreciate a lot of late 80s/early 90s hiphop, and this was no exception. I enjoyed this album, even... and this really is a surprise given how much I've whinged about them on other albums... the skit-adjacent bits!

Fight the Power is obviously the standout here, but I liked a lot of this album. The style of sampling on albums like this is just so impressive to me and I appreciate that Public Enemy were outspoken about their politics and experiences.

Probably a 3.5, but on balance I'm rounding down not up. It was a close run thing though.

3/5

P.E. at there PEak. I love Chuck Ds lyrics and Flav is a great counterpoint .

A few issues with lyrics - aggressive and rightfully angry as fuck. Unfortunately It still resonates today especially. Production is tight with a ton of samples and turntablism (from the sound of it) expertly crafted.

This album just builds and builds

The segment from the mighty but unfortunate theme of "Meet the G that Killed Me" through Pollywannacracka and AntiN***erMachine before the mighty Burn Hollywood Burn is an excellent mush mash of styles and samples . Heavy on the guitars and attitude . This is maintained to the end of the album where fight the power rounds everything off on a high note. Even the almost comidic distraction of can’t do Nuttin for ya, man is excellent

The Good: This is all about SciFi!
The Bad: It lacks tractor beams, forward shields, and bikinis!
The Ugly: Inversing this album…

911 is a joke, I remember when that song came out. Flavor and his clocks were stating to become, what today we would call, a meme, kind of taking away the power of the message.

I get the fact that there is need for political messages at times, plenty of artists have done this in their career, I have to wonder where we are today, considering that this album came out over 35 years ago and one could bitch about the same things, however, removing references to color… it is not about race, it is about economic power and how one decides to apply it…

Anyway, did not have an enjoyable time listening to this, but will give PE 2* as they are one of the few rap groups I can stand...

Lyrics good. Samples good.

I didn't really like this.

Dude, Public Enemy is so much fun to listen to. Chuck D is a master.

Chuck D 🐐

I can appreciate the energy and emotion and anger of Fear of a Black Planet, but I’m still a little too white to fully love and understand this album like many others do

Super compelling and cacaphonous album that has a great meaning. Some moments feel a bit stale in the middle but impressive nonetheless. 4/5

Totally surprised to see this pop up, I already had one Public Enemy record and surely there aren't two that everyone needs to hear...

I'm halfway through and have heard no 'yeaaaahhhh boiiiiiiii's yet. Why am I even listening to this? Spoiler - there were none on the whole album.
Hip hop is totally not my thing. This was a struggle though I'd take this over probably all the newer hip hop on this list. I can at least appreciate why this is relevant and included on the list. I still don't like it though. 1.5/5 and I guess I'll round up because it isn't the worst thing I've heard.

Not sure we need to listen to 3 Public Enemy albums before we die.

I preferred this to It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and probably on par with the other one. 3.5/5. Raising to a 4.

I always start by saying hip-hop and rap aren't really my areas and always feel a bit like an imposter when I say things like "I enjoyed the albums beats and the rapping really flows". But that's what I'm saying. There's a real angry undercurrent here, a lot of the words are delivered like political statements of intent. I loved the loops and sampling, like a rapper with ADHD flicking through TV station channels. Some cool bars "I'll check out a move / but it'll take a black one to move me" which I think was talking about Hollywood's portrayal of black actors.

This is never going to be my main listening genre (I always feel incredibly white listening to it) but this list has really broadened my knowledge. This album gets a strong 3.8 from me.

"Your Mother's got Gold Nipples"

This actually aged better than I was expecting it to have. It's also definitely front-loaded. 3.5 stars

Kind of a slog because it's just way too long. Iconic group but Chuck D is so much more interesting than Flavor Flav that it's not even funny

Better than Coldplay

Some really good socially conscious hip hop. The songs all have great beats and flow, and the lyrics are good. I enjoy the samples and the wide variety of voices on display.

This is a great album title. Like their last album, even though the raps/lyrics are solid, I don't like the beats! Too many annoying noises. Truly, what is music but a series of annoying noises? Maybe I should come back to this one when I'm less tired. But for now, it's another 2.

I bet nowadays some people think '911 is a joke' refers to 9/11 and not 9-1-1.

Sadly this is just as relevant now as it was when it was released. It's angry, aggressive, and important. Excellent turntablism and use of samples. Honestly, Chuck D's rapping isn't my favourite, but it's still pretty good. Flavor Flav on the other hand I find incredibly annoying. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's not quite for me.

I liked it. Funky and fun while expressing some serious concerns of the times

A 'counterattack on world supremacy' that's more world supremacy, i.e., a 'black planet,' will never work out, but Fear of a Black Planet has more than a rumble of truth in it. Conspiratorial, not so much, Public Enemy is merely tired of the shitty system and more often than not espouse common sense: 'Teach a man how to be a father / To never tell a woman he can't bother'; 'Every brother ain't a brother / Cause a black hand / Squeezed on Malcolm X the man'; 'Yeah, I'll check out a movie / But it'll take a black one to move me.' Before PC there was PE, which recognizes identity but isn't swallowed up by identity politics. But The Bomb Squad's atonal funk, that noisy yet charitable in-your-facism, remains the sui generis export of the group.