LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not all that high
RATING
At the end of the ‘80s, their were few groups as influential as Public Enemy. Their mix of politically strong rapping with a funky, dense sound collage practically re-wrote hip hop over night, as well as having effects felt throughout rock. Their focal, at least on record, was (and still is) Chuck D, the main rapper. Live, however, Flavor Flav, the second rapper and partly comedic sidekick tended to take the centre stage, with his demented demeanour and penchant for wearing large clocks (to signify what time it was).
In 1990 they released their third album, Fear Of A Black Planet. It was both a critical and commercial success. On 911 Is A Joke, Flav takes centre stage, with a rap spotlighting the deficiencies in the emergency services when it came to helping those in poorer neighbourhoods. Whilst it doesn't have the two-voice interplay that was one of PE's trademarks, it lacked for nothing in its punch. The rap is every bit as hard hitting as Chuck D's, albeit coloured by Flav's skewed take and rhymes. It is also musically one of the high points on an album that has barely a weak second.
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