Fear of a Black Planet [PA] (Cassette - 1990)

Public Enemy: Chuck D [Carlton Ridenhour]; Flavor Flav (vocals); Terminator X (scratches); Professor Griff, Brother James I, Agent Attitude, James Bomb, Brother Mike.

Additional personnel: Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane (vocals); Branford Marsalis (saxophone); Paul Shabazz (programming); Wizard K-Jee (scratches).

Engineers include: Rod Hui, Chris Shaw, Kirk Yano.

Recorded at Greene Street Recording, New York, New York; The Music Palace, West Hempstead and Spectrum City Studios, Long Island, New York.

Personnel: Branford Marsalis (saxophone); Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, Paul Shabazz (programming); Norman Rogers (scratches).

Audio Mixers: Christopher Shaw ; Dan Wood; Mike Bona; Paul Eulin; Nick Sansano ; Rod Hui.

Recording information: Greene Street Recording, New York, NY; Music Palace, West Hampstead, NY; Spectrum City Studios, Strong Island.

Directors: Eric "Vietnam" Sadler; Carl Ryder; Hank Shocklee; Keith Shocklee.

Photographer: Jules Allen.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Flavor Flav; Ice Cube; Professor Griff; Big Daddy Kane; Chuck D.

Arrangers: Eric "Vietnam" Sadler; Carl Ryder; Hank Shocklee; Keith Shocklee.

If Public Enemy's two previous albums had ruffled feathers, Fear Of A Black Planet set out its stall to exploit mainstream fears. Again, the title spoke volumes. This time they raged just as hard, but their political consciousness had grown. Professor Griff had been ejected from the band for his anti-Semitic stance, and much of the album's atmosphere is created by the bunker mentality of resultant clashes with the press. The siege mentality only underscores the group's hard-nosed, cut-and-paste sample technique and the eloquence of Chuck D. 'Fight The Power' still bites harder than just about any other track in rap's history. minimize