As I watched Shabazz Palaces repeat “black is you, black is me, black is us, black is free” at their excellent concert at Gabe’s on April 25, I got a nice reminder of something that I have been thinking about for a while: the political power and hope of music. This is something that can […]
Public Enemy
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
How Copyright Law Changed Hip Hop: An Interview with Public Enemy's Chuck D and Hank Shocklee
Kembrew McLeod sits down with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Hank Shocklee.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
4/1 – PE/BOMB SQUAD/ACID MOTHER TEMPLE
There are nights out, there are nights out that melt your face off, and then there’s last night, which was an alien-chest-burster, singularity event. The Public Enemy “Fear Of A Black Planet” lecture event was a huge deal from me. As I told Chuck D afterwards, “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Prairie Pop: Hip Hop's Media Assassin
For those listening to hip hop 20 years ago, Harry Allen’s name was well known after the release of Public Enemy’s classic “Don’t Believe the Hype,” from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. That 1988 album—with its massive freight train of a title, and rocketing aural attack—established the group as agitprop […]
