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"It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back" by Public Enemy
By Webjockey Flur
View the Rifflist, hear the clips: "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back"
In 1988, Def Jam released what would come to later be labeled as one of the most widely influential albums. Period. Not just of its genre. In a time when the world didnt know how to handle hip-hop and its credibility, Public Enemy stood up and made everyone pay attention. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, the groups second full length album, did this better than perhaps any of their other recordings.
The group, and this album in particular, can be considered ahead of its time for several reasons. Aside from Chuck Ds, uh, somewhat overt politics, tracks like She Watch Channel Zero?! sent messages (in this case, anti-television) that no other hip-hop group conceived of writing lyrics on at the time. Flava Flav set the prototype for the insane hype man, and was the antidote to Chuck Ds sobriety. Regardless of how self-parodic he may have become, his contributions to Nation of Millions would later become industry standards.
As for the beats and production? Aside from being ahead of its time they have arguably still yet been matched. This album gets classic billing on everyone''s "Best Of" lists for good reason.
If you like this, check out Public Enemy''s "Yo! Bum Rush the Show," "Paid in Full" by Eric B and Rakim, and "36 Chambers" by Wu-Tang.
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