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Hell No, We Aint Alright - Public Enemy



     
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Hell No, We Aint Alright Lyrics


[Chuck D: storm raging in the background]
Does it gotta come down to this...
In order to see things for what they are and what it is...
We still might not be free up in this piece
Or treated very equally as far as I can see...
Hell no we ain't alright![Chuck D (Flavor Flav)]
Now all these press conferences, breaking news alert (this just in)
While your government looks for a war to win
Flames for the blame game, names where I begin
Walls closin and get some help to my kin
(Who cares?) While the rest of the Bush nation stares
As the drama unfolds, as we the people under the stairs
Fifty percent of this "Son of a Bush" nation
is like, hatin on Haiti and settin up assassinations
Ask Pat Robertson, quiz him (mmm - smells like terrorism)
Racism in the news, still one-sided views
Sayin whites find food
Pray for the National Guard who be ready to shoot

Because they be sayin us blacks loot
(What is your boy "Son of a Bush" doin?) [laughing]
(NUTTIN!)[Chorus 1: x3]
New Orleans in the mornin afternoon and night
Hell naw! {HELL NAW} We ain't alright[Chorus 2]
New Orleans in the mornin afternoon and night
Hell naw! "Damn, damn!"[Chuck D (Flavor Flav)]
Now them fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, I don't mean to scare
... wasn't this written somewhere?
Disgrace is all I be seein is hurtin black faces
Moved out to all them far away places
(Emergency) state, corpses alligators and snakes
Big difference between this haze and (the little diamonds on the VMA's)
You better look what's really important
Y'all under the sun, especially if you over 21
This ain't no TV show, ain't no video (this is really real!)
Beyond them same ol' keep it real
quotes from them TV stars, drivin big rim cars (streets keep floodin B)
No matter where you at no gas, driving is a luxury (urgency)
Don't y'all know? They said it's a state of emergency
Show somebody's government is far from reality
(Aiyyo check one two!)[Chorus 1: repeat x4 instead of x3][TV broadcast samples]
And they don't have a CLUE of what's going on down there
I'm like you've gotta be kidding me, this is a NATIONAL disaster
It's awful down here man
God is lookin down on all this
And if they are not doin everything in their power to save people
They are gonna pay the price[Chuck D (Flavor Flav)]
Now I see we be the new faces of refugees, who ain't even overseas
But stuck here on our knees
Forget the plasma TV, ain't no electricity
New world's upside down and OUT of order
Shelter, food, what's up yo? (Where's the water?)
No answers from disaster, them masses be hurtin
So who the f#$! they call - HALLIBURTON?!
"Son of a Bush" how you gonna just trust that cat
to fix s%#t when all that help is stuck in Iraq?
Makin war plans takin more stands in Afghanistan
Two thousands soldiers there dyin in the sand
But that's over there, right? What's over here?
It's a noise so loud some of y'all can't hear
But on TV I know that I can see
Bunches of people, lookin just like me[Chorus 1 x4: change city/state name each refrain]
[1:] New Orleans
[2:] Mississippi
[3:] Alabama
[4:] U.S.A.[Chuck D]
We definitely ain't alright
And some of y'all voted for that cat! "Son of a Bush"
That's right, what God giveth sometimes your country taketh away
Yeah, one love, comin from Public Enemy, #1 y'all
Public Enemy, 2006 (yeah)
Public Enemy 2007, all gettin together now[Flavor Flav]
Let me tell y'all somethin
All of our hearts is out there with y'all, you know what I'm sayin?
And we sendin trucks, we sendin boats
Boxes of.. cans of soup and everything
Clothes and all of that, shoes
We donating everything to y'all, you know what I'm sayin?
Don't worry, y'all ain't by yourself
You need to know that

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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