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Hannibal Lecture - Public Enemy



     
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Hannibal Lecture Lyrics


[Malcolm X]Being here in America doesn't make you an American
Being born here in America doesn't make you an American
Why if birth made you an American you wouldn't need any legislation
You wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution
I don't see any American dream, I see an American nightmare
I'm one of the 42 million black people who are the victims of America
[Paris]Aiyyo we all in together now, all in together now
Hard truth soldierin, hard truth soldier SHIT
Keep on servin 'em, cause you know we do work
Mashin in my Chevy down the streets of New York, they feel me
I smooth grip, and hit up the spot
Snatch Flav as my dual pipes burn up the block
We bumpin hardcore, heavyweight, b-boy blast
On the street they hear my beat, my 69 is fast
Smash down Lennox, head up to the 'View
Some reporter wanna holla and I said it was cool
Wanna know about the album and the Enemy's new
How P.E. and Guerilla Funk is keepin it movin

Breakin bread talkin politics, you know how it go
'Bout the war and how it's shitty that we murder for dough
Then the reporter asked a question, that I had to mash
How, I would act if every day was maybe my last
How if every day I worried 'bout my family in this
I'd be murdered on these street in a puddle of piss
Or if I would get some news that my brother had died
If they ran up in my house and held my kids and my wife
Or if we was looted and somebody took all our thangs
If my sister was abducted, never heard from again
I began to compare it, so he could observe
When I made the parallels with how they livin abroad
I can't ignore it, these pigs ride deep in the streets
Cap a nigga for his wallet, beat another for free
And the cold part about it, life is cheaper than that
Down there people on the bottom kill each other for scraps
Imagine that, propoganda got the people confused
Damned by the media that keep 'em subdued
I been around the world, seen a lot of shit in my life
Same sirens, same ghetto birds swirlin at night
Same racism, profilin each of us all
Same outsiders where we live enforcin the law
Gats clappin on the streets, gunplayin with heat
Same prisons full of brothers herded in like sheep
Same turncoats that'll burn folks for pay
Same conditions in communities we die everyday
Same brutality and ignorance, now what will it take
to break the motherfuckin cycle, get the people away?
That's why I'm fresh out of tears for 'em, all out of tears for 'em
Even though my heart goes out, what the fuck you cryin 'bout?
Money for rebuilding but, what about home?
When the way we live is shitty where's the love for our own?
I can't decide it, it's real, I hit you with proof
Maybe I'll be suicided cause I hit you with truth
See they kill for less than what we say on records to you
Hear the message in the music from a rebel to you, now listen
[Outro: x6 to end]Save my life you gotta, save my life you gotta [x3]
Save us, save us

Enjoy the lyrics !!!
Public Enemy, also known as P.E., is a seminal Golden Age era Hip-Hop group known for their densely layered production and politically charged lyrics demonstrating their interest in the concerns of the African American community.

PE formed in Long Island, New York, in 1982 around a WBAU radio show as Spectrum City. After one less-than-successful single, they regrouped and signed to the still developing Def Jam record label after Rick Rubin heard Chuck D freestyling on a demo. Their debut, ‘Yo! Bum Rush The Show’, was released in 1987 to mild critical acclaim, although the Hip-Hop climate changed dramatically due to sampling during the time of release. As a response, they went on to release the revolutionary ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’ in 1988, which performed better in the charts than their previous release, and included the hit single ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’.

Slightly less militant than their previous releases Public Enemy’s, ‘Fear Of A Black Planet’ was officially recognised as being the most successful and influential of the Public Enemy recordings when, in 2004, it became one of 50 recordings, chosen that year by the Library of Congress, to be added to the National Recording Registry. Sales-wise it was the most successful of any of their albums to date. It included the powerful and controversial singles ‘911 is a Joke’ (which criticized emergency response units for taking longer to arrive at emergencies in the black community than those in the white community), and ‘Fight the Power’, which is considered by many to be the group’s premier self-describing anthem. The song is considered to be amongst the most popular and influential in Hip Hop history and was the theme song for Spike Lee’s landmark film ‘Do The Right Thing’.

Public Enemy are to be considered musical pioneers for a broad variety of reasons. For instance, Terminator X elevated DJing to a refined art. Some of his most innovative scratching tricks can be heard on the track ‘Rebel Without A Pause’. PE’s production team, ‘The Bomb Squad’, offered up a web of innovative samples and beats; critic Steven Thomas Earlewine declared that PE “brought in elements of free jazz, hard funk, even musique concrète, via their [production] team, the Bomb Squad, creating a dense, ferocious sound unlike anything that came before.”

PE revolutionized the rap world with their political, social and cultural consciousness. These themes became infused into skilled and poetic rhymes with jazzy backbeats. They are recognised as the first Hip Hop group to make extended world tours, leading to huge popularity and influence within the Hip Hop communities of Europe and Asia. They also changed the internet’s music distribution capability by being the first group to release MP3 albums, a format virtually unknown at the time.

Public Enemy, in keeping with their ‘pioneer’ status, also helped to form and define the so-called ‘crossover’ genre of music (heavy rock music spliced with hip hop) by collaborating with New York thrash metal outfit Anthrax in 1991. The single ‘Bring The Noise’ was a remarkable potpourri of semi-militant pro-black lyrics, grinding guitars and sporadic humour. The two bands, cemented by a mutual respect, and the personal friendship between Chuck D and his Anthrax counterpart Scott Ian, introduced a hitherto alien genre to rock fans.

During the seemingly unlikely tour of Anthrax and Public Enemy, Flavor Flav made his famous pronouncement onstage that “They said this tour would never happen” (heard on Anthrax’s Live: The Island Years CD). This has become something of legendary significance in both rock and rap circles. There is some justification for the theory that without this unlikely musical partnership, bands such as Rage Against The Machine and Linkin Park would not have existed, and the genres of rap rock, nu metal and their related offshoots might have never developed.

Members of Public Enemy

Chuck D
Real name: Carlton Douglas Ridenhour
Role: Group leader, lyricist, main vocalist, and artwork
Birthdate: August 1, 1960

Flavor Flav
Real name: William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.
Role: Lyricist, vocalist, hype-man, and comic relief.
Birthdate: March 16, 1959

Professor Griff
Real name: Richard Griffin
Role: Head of S1W, liaison between PE and S1W, road manager. Ensured that the chaotic Flavor Flav was available when needed. Occasional vocalist and/or producer, plays drums at live shows.
Birthdate: August 1, 1960 (the same as Chuck D)

Terminator X
Real name: Norman Rogers
Role: DJ, Producer
Birthdate: August 25, 1966

Dj Lord
Real name: Lord Aswod
Role: DJ, Producer

The following are a part of The Bomb Squad, the revolutionary production group which is closely associated with (and sometimes considered a part of) Public Enemy:

Hank Shocklee
Real name: Hank Boxley
Bill Stephany
Keith Shocklee
Eric “Vietnam” Sadler
Chuck D - often listed as a member of the Bomb Squad under the pseudonymn “Carl Ryder”, a shortened form of his real name.

The S1W’s are sometimes considered a part of Public Enemy, as well.

There are three other groups named Public Enemy:

2) The first Public Enemy, an Oi!/punk band formed in 1984 who released one LP album (England's Glory) and one 7 inch (Skinheads). This band was never white supremacist and has no connection to the "revived" Public Enemy:

3) White Power group from the UK, formed by Paul Burnley (of No Remorse). Released 3 CDs: “Paul Burnley Is The Real Public Enemy”, "There is only one..." and “Archives”.

4) Public Enemy was a Hardcore/Punk group from Tuscon, Arizona.

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Public Enemy