#497 Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987)

I'll admit it, this album intimidated me.  Not in 1987 when I was a senior in high school; I don't think I had any idea who Public Enemy was back then.  I mean just now, realizing I probably don't know a single track on this album.  I was just thinking, "what insight could I possibly give" about something I know nothing about.  But in the same moment it hits me, "that's just the point".  An unfettered opinion based on a fresh listen... there might be some value in that.  After all, there's much entertainment to be had by just watching the faces of those viewing two girls and a cup... without subjecting yourself to the source material.  Reading that, it's a terrible analogy, but one that makes me laugh none-the-less.

Having said all that, I confess as the album starts that I recognize Flavor Flav's voice but mostly from his Surreal Life appearances.  And I'm barely diverse enough musically to know Chuck D when I hear him.  But embarrassingly enough,  this is my launching pad.

This first track, You're Gonna Get Yours, has the groove of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but to my ear Chuck's rhymes on this one sound stiff, almost like the Superbowl Shuffle.  Ok, it's '87, I'll give him some slack.

Sophisticated Bitch.  Maybe it's my short attention span, but rap/hip hop bores me when it's the same musical phrase repeated over and over again.  The lyrics or "book" of the song has to be really strong to overcome the monotony for me.  This doesn't have a strong book, but it does have a sweet guitar solo by Vernon Reid, leader of Living Colour.

Miuzi Weighs A Ton.  A couple of well placed "samples" can keep me invested in a song.  The word "sample", implies digitally sampling music and then triggering it from a computer or a keyboard.  While I'm not certain of it, I think it's inaccurate of me to refer to it in this way here.  This was hip hop back when you still used vinyl, when scratching was actually done with needles and not laptops.  And after further googling, I was right, that was Aretha Franklin's Rock Steady mixed in there.

Timebomb while the guitar and drum groove is completely funky, it's just that... it stays there.  I keep waiting for a bridge, for a change in the music, a release for all the air that's filling up the balooon... but alas, it never comes.

Too Much Posse Flavor Flav is the perfect foil for comedic relief, but this track is just him rapping, with a drum machine.  No groove, No samples. Too, too, too much flavor, and not enough food.

Rightstarter (Message To The Black Man)  Maybe they put flavor flav's track right before this one to make it pop, but I'm pretty sure it didn't need it.  This track is powerful, musically, lyrically, no contrast needed.  It moves fast and furious and leaves me with my first clenched and yearning for a just cause to fight for.

Public Enemy No. 1 while the music and sampling to this don't impress me, I realize how powerful Chuck D's rapping is, because he carries this drum machine and bumble-bee drone hybrid.  Flavor Flav keeps reminding me of the archetypical sidekick that can't help but repeat what the bigman just said.

M.P.E.  while I'm not impressed by the song at all, it is a good example of how a rapper could potentially change the world with just a mic and an 808.  In 1982 Roland introduced the affordable TR-808 drum machine, and while I can't imagine how the world changed when the first piano was invented, or the first trumpet; the invention of the drum machine opened up a new medium of expression and perhaps sparked the beginning of hip hop.

Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Where rappers could use drum machines for their rhythm, DJ's could use records for all the rest.  Lead and rhythm guitars are replaced with "Lead Scratch" and "Rhythm Scratch" by Terminator X and Juice Rosato respectively.

Raise the Roof I looked it up, this isn't the song that popularized the arm gesture.  It's not that good.  But it does have some fun DJ work (listen for the piano stepping down in the background mid song)  And yeah, I'm pretty sure that explosion at the end was "mouthed".

Megablast oh please oh please oh please, an allusion to The Escorts One More Chance.   The reverse message in the song... did you want me to do the legwork and tell you what they say?  Well, it's raw so I won't give you all of it word for word, but it's Flavor going off on women who smoke weed while pregnant who then have babies coming out "no bigger than a leaf of fucking lettuce".

Terminator X Speaks With His Hands is a showcase of what a talented DJ could do with two turntables (Flav's got the occasional microphone) but parts of it are kinda sparse.

Can I claim a better understanding of the black street struggle of the 80's... surely not.  But I do have a better appreciation for Chuck D, for the roots of hip hop, and the music that DJ's of that era had in their scratch repertoire.  My impression of Flavor Flav however, hasn't changed much.

Next up #496 Kiss- Destroyer (1976)