Chuck D of Public Enemy Jacket

“No one has been able to approach the political power that Public Enemy brought to hip-hop,” Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys told Rolling Stone in 2004. “I put them on a level with Bob Marley and a handful of other artists – the rare artist who can make great music and also deliver a message.” Public Enemy brought an explosion of sonic invention, rhyming virtuosity and social awareness to hip hop in the 1980s, 1990s and beyond. Two landmark LPs – 1988’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and 1990’s Fear of a Black Planet – stand among the greatest politically-charged albums of all time. “When we released ‘Fight the Power’ in 1989, we were voicing the struggle of our times,” Chuck D said. “But every generation has to figure out for itself – fighting the power means there’s always gonna be some sh*t! [And] can you [respond to] that sh*t?”