47
PUBLIC ENEMY FIGHTS THE POWER
Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
— “Fight the Power,” Public Enemy (PE), 1989
“Although it never cracked the Top 40, Public Enemy's ‘Fight the Power’ became the soundtrack
to 1989's summer of rage,” writes Johnny Black in Blender. “That year, director Spike Lee
released Do the Right Thing, a movie he wrote to portray the violence of the time — particularly
the often fatal clashes between African-Americans and the New York Police Department.”
The opening credits rolled, Rosie Perez danced, “Fight the Power” blared, and political hip-hop
was now in everyone's face. “I didn't want to rap about ‘I'm this or I'm that’ all the time,” explains
PE's Chuck D. (b. 1960). “My focus was not on boasting about myself or battling brothers on the
microphone. I wanted to rap about battling institutions, and bringing the condition of black people
worldwide to a respectable level.”
“Unabashedly political, ‘Fight the Power’ was confrontational in the way great rock has always
been,” Laura K. Warrell wrote in Salon. “It had the kind of irreverence that puts bands on FBI lists.
'Fight' demanded action and, as the band's most accessible hit, acted as the perfect summation of
to 1989's summer of rage,” writes Johnny Black in Blender. “That year, director Spike Lee
released Do the Right Thing, a movie he wrote to portray the violence of the time — particularly
the often fatal clashes between African-Americans and the New York Police Department.”
The opening credits rolled, Rosie Perez danced, “Fight the Power” blared, and political hip-hop
was now in everyone's face. “I didn't want to rap about ‘I'm this or I'm that’ all the time,” explains
PE's Chuck D. (b. 1960). “My focus was not on boasting about myself or battling brothers on the
microphone. I wanted to rap about battling institutions, and bringing the condition of black people
worldwide to a respectable level.”
“Unabashedly political, ‘Fight the Power’ was confrontational in the way great rock has always
been,” Laura K. Warrell wrote in Salon. “It had the kind of irreverence that puts bands on FBI lists.
'Fight' demanded action and, as the band's most accessible hit, acted as the perfect summation of
131
… YOU'RE NOT
SUPPOSED TO KNOW
SUPPOSED TO KNOW