Public Enemy

Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and his S1W group, DJ Lord (who replaced Terminator X in 1999), and music director Khari Wynn. Public Enemy is known for their politically charged lyrics and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the African American community.

Public Enemy started out as opening acts for the Beastie Boys during the latter's Licensed to Ill popularity, and in 1987 released their debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show

The group released the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in 1988 and included the hit single "Don't Believe the Hype" in addition to "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".

In 1989, the group released Fear of a Black Planet in April 1990. The title song "Fear of a Black Planet" addresses the fear some white people have of black and white relationships. It was the most successful of any of their albums and, in 2005, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. It included the singles "Welcome To The Terrodome", "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". "Fight the Power" is regarded as one of the most popular and influential songs in hip hop history and it was the theme song of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.

The group’s next release, Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black, featured "Can't Truss It", which addressed the history of slavery and how the black community can fight back against oppression and "I Don't Wanna be Called Yo Nigga". The album also included the controversial song and video "By the Time I Get to Arizona", which chronicled the black community's frustration that some US states did not recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday. The video featured members of Public Enemy taking out their frustrations on politicians in the states not recognizing the holiday.

Public Enemy helped to create and define "rap metal" by collaborating with New York thrash metal outfit Anthrax in 1991. The single "Bring The Noise" was a mix of semi-militant black power lyrics, grinding guitars, and sporadic humor.

In 2007, Public Enemy released the album How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?. Their single from the album was "Harder Than You Think". In September 2009, VH1 aired a show called "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs" where Public Enemy earned the number one spot with their hit song, Fight the Power.

In January of 2011, Public Enemy released their last album to date entitled Beats And Places, a compilation of remixes and "lost" tracks.