0:00:02 > 0:00:07THIS PROGRAMME CONTAINS VERY STRONG LANGUAGE
0:00:07 > 0:00:09# This time around
0:00:09 > 0:00:11# The revolution will not be televised
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# Step... #
0:00:13 > 0:00:17SIREN
0:00:23 > 0:00:25London, England...
0:00:27 > 0:00:28..consider yourselves...
0:00:30 > 0:00:31..one!
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Introducing...Public Enemy!
0:00:42 > 0:00:45They were the biggest rap group on the planet
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and the most controversial.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50They sold millions of records preaching pro-black politics
0:00:50 > 0:00:52in a predominantly white country.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55All done through an unrelenting wall of noise
0:00:55 > 0:00:57that changed the sound of hip-hop.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59"Yo, I got something new... Public Enemy."
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And I was like what the...hell... who the...what the hell is... who's this?!
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Oh my God. This is totally new sound.
0:01:06 > 0:01:07They just played by no rules.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Yeah, boy!
0:01:08 > 0:01:09Drop it!
0:01:11 > 0:01:16The self-proclaimed Prophets of Rage who opened the eyes of a generation to the black struggle.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20If you think that the noise is the music,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23the lyrics are even going to be noisier than the music.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26No-one was teaching me about black politics in school.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Com'ere, listen to this.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30As a human being, you're like, "That makes sense.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33"I've never thought about it like that before."
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Their militant attitude upset Middle America,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38the media and the government.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41When I watched the video the first time I kind of felt queasy inside,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45I thought, "My heavens, who would ever want to put something like this together?"
0:01:45 > 0:01:50There's a lot of people that don't ever want to hear a peep from the black man.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52The plan was to have us self-destruct.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Friendships were stretched to breaking point.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Could they hold it together long enough to get their message across?
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I go, "What you going to do, man, seriously, cos I'm fed up to here."
0:02:03 > 0:02:06If I would've shot that man in his head
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I would not be sitting here talking to you guys today.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11# The point's made You consider it done
0:02:11 > 0:02:12# By the prophets of rage
0:02:12 > 0:02:14# Power of the people say
0:02:14 > 0:02:15# 'You're quite hostile.' #
0:02:18 > 0:02:191970s America...
0:02:21 > 0:02:22Hip-hop was in its early phase,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24rising up from the ghettos of New York.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The perfect environment to breed rap's most political group.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32But that wasn't where the Public Enemy story started.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34It began on the more affluent streets
0:02:34 > 0:02:36of New York's Long Island.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42There was a sort of a point of migration for African Americans
0:02:42 > 0:02:43who were working class
0:02:43 > 0:02:46or working to middle class, had kids,
0:02:46 > 0:02:47looking for, you know,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51a backyard and a safe place to raise their kids from
0:02:51 > 0:02:54the urban landscape that was Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Out of the gains of the Civil Rights Movement
0:02:57 > 0:03:00many African American middle-class neighbourhoods were created
0:03:00 > 0:03:01but what happened was
0:03:01 > 0:03:03estate agents knew full well
0:03:03 > 0:03:06that White America didn't want to live next to black people
0:03:06 > 0:03:09so they'd create middle-class African American neighbourhoods,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12so even though it was middle class - everyone's black still.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16We did have grass as opposed to growing up playing on the concrete
0:03:16 > 0:03:21like our cousins in the Bronx and Brooklyn and Manhattan.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24So fresher air, but nonetheless,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28racism was still there, we still had to deal with it.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30The Public Enemy members grew up within
0:03:30 > 0:03:34a few square miles of each other, in the small town of Roosevelt.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37While hip-hop was developing on the hard streets of New York,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41these future political firebrands were at their local university.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Brothers Keith and Hank Shocklee ran their own sound system, Spectrum City.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49They made their name DJing at neighbourhood parties and community centres.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52When rap was in its early stages there used to be a thing where
0:03:52 > 0:03:57if somebody played what is known as a hip-hop beat,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00or traditional hip-hop record,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03all the MCs would line up and they'd want to grab the microphone.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06# Breaks on the bus Breaks on the car
0:04:06 > 0:04:08# Breaks to make you a superstar... #
0:04:08 > 0:04:14And at that time you would have literally 20 or 30 guys
0:04:14 > 0:04:17wanting to get their turn so they could show their skills.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Most of the guys that were rapping were horrible.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Young graphic design student Carlton Ridenhour,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24who called himself Chuckie D,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28was one of the Spectrum City fans in the crowd.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30I kind of wanted to get my dance on
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and whenever a whack MC got on the microphone
0:04:32 > 0:04:34to MC the crowd,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38they'd usually just mess it up for the crowd and the dance.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41So what I would do is get on the microphone
0:04:41 > 0:04:44to get them intimidated not to get on it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46He sounded clearer, more succinct,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51he sounded better than the any of the 30 rappers that was there.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And he had some wit and some intelligence to him.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56So I said, you know what,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00I needed an MC for my situation to take it to another level.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And I was like, you know I'm not trying to be in the middle of that mix
0:05:03 > 0:05:07because I mean I just like to go to the gigs, I dig it.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10He said, "No, try this with us."
0:05:10 > 0:05:14And I tried it, after the first weekend I did a gig with Spectrum City
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and from that point on it was a natural fit.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19# Mind over matter - mouth in motion
0:05:19 > 0:05:21# Can't defy cos I'll never be quiet
0:05:21 > 0:05:23# Let's start this... #
0:05:26 > 0:05:31Spectrum City had found their MC, and Chuck D, his calling.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39He'd pattern his vocal styles after Marv Albert
0:05:39 > 0:05:41a Jewish brother
0:05:41 > 0:05:43who was one of the famous sportscasters in this country.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Part radio announcer...
0:05:45 > 0:05:47part stadium announcer...
0:05:47 > 0:05:51part Southern black preacher...
0:05:51 > 0:05:54part, you know, sassy, brassy New Yorker.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56The speaker, the public speaker,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58the leader...
0:05:58 > 0:06:00He wasn't a preacher.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01He was a leader.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02When you heard Chuck speak
0:06:02 > 0:06:05you felt like your father was talking to you.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07And was telling you some real shit, you know.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11If I could say I ever had a man crush on anyone, quote unquote, it was Chuck D.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14You know, cos it was just like, man...who is this dude?
0:06:14 > 0:06:18There's a Marvel comics character called Black Bolt -
0:06:18 > 0:06:19I'm a big comic fan -
0:06:19 > 0:06:21and Black Bolt can never speak
0:06:21 > 0:06:23cos if he even opened his mouth
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and uttered the slightest, tiny little sound
0:06:25 > 0:06:27he could blow up a mountain with that
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and that's what I always considered Chuck to be,
0:06:30 > 0:06:31Chuck was Black Bolt.
0:06:31 > 0:06:32With Chuck on the mic,
0:06:32 > 0:06:37the Spectrum City sound system really took off, playing all over Long Island.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41The group members discovered they had more things in common than just music.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44They all grew up in the '60s and shared a passion for politics.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Most kids into hip-hop were several years younger.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49You have a group of people who grew up,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53their first ten years in the turbulent 1960s as kids.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00So assassinations that took place in the '60s, they stuck.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03I mean, I was in first/second grade,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07the president just got shot five years prior.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Assassinations of Malcolm X when I was five,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Dr Martin Luther King when I was eight.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Then you had the destruction, COINTELPRO, J Edgar Hoover,
0:07:18 > 0:07:19the Black Panther party.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24So coming up in the '60s made us see a different world
0:07:24 > 0:07:28than somebody who was maybe born in 1970 and then saw the '70s.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Within a few years, Spectrum City were the biggest DJ crew
0:07:31 > 0:07:36on Long Island with their own show on university radio station WBAU.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39They fast got a reputation for playing the hottest rap records.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Picking up the station's signal in Queens
0:07:42 > 0:07:46established hip-hop artists like Run DMC started paying attention.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49We went to be interviewed at WBAU.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52I remember when we first walked in and there was a guy
0:07:52 > 0:07:56sitting there eating chicken wings out a Styrofoam container
0:07:56 > 0:07:58answering a telephone.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01"Yo, G, whassup, G? Yo, whassup, y'all?!"
0:08:03 > 0:08:06DMC had just tasted the vital ingredient that gives
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Public Enemy its flavour.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13HE CHUCKLES
0:08:13 > 0:08:14HE LAUGHS
0:08:21 > 0:08:24He's always happy. He's always like, you know, excited.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28# Yeahhhhh, boy! #
0:08:28 > 0:08:29Yeah, boy.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31You know, just kind of chiming in like the little brother.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34He was nuts. He was like he is now.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Personality walks. Personality talks. Personality smiles.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Yo, did you see that? Did you see that?!
0:08:40 > 0:08:43This is the words of Flavor, Flavor fucking Flav.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47That excitement is infectious, it's contagious.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Throw your hands in the air!
0:08:48 > 0:08:53Flavor is a dude who presents disorder...
0:08:53 > 0:08:56What are you looking at? How are you feeling in there?
0:08:56 > 0:09:02..and dissonance, spontaneity, the gift of gab, and anything goes.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03Everybody thinks I'm cuckoo.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06With hip-hop still in its early days,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09there weren't enough new records to fill up a whole radio show.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12So with Flavor Flav now part of the crew, Spectrum City
0:09:12 > 0:09:15experimented with their own music to play on the airwaves.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Their early demos were an instant hit with the listeners.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25And it was from one of these they would take their new name...Public Enemy.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27We would always go up to BAU to hang out
0:09:27 > 0:09:29cos it was just a beautiful scene
0:09:29 > 0:09:32but then I remember when we went up there
0:09:32 > 0:09:35this was probably like the 25th time,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39and you know, they was playing records and then they played
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Public Enemy Number One.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45SINGS THE INTRO TO THE SONG
0:09:47 > 0:09:48# Yo Chuck bust a move man
0:09:48 > 0:09:50# I was on my way up here to the studio
0:09:50 > 0:09:51# You know what I'm saying
0:09:51 > 0:09:53# And this brother stop me and asks me
0:09:53 > 0:09:56# "Yo wassup with that brother Chuckie D, he swear he nice"
0:09:56 > 0:09:58HE IMITATES SONG
0:09:58 > 0:10:00And he said...
0:10:00 > 0:10:02# I'm all in Put it up on the board
0:10:02 > 0:10:04# Another rapper shot down from the mouth that roared. #
0:10:04 > 0:10:06# One, two, three Down for the count
0:10:06 > 0:10:09# The result of my lyrics Oh, yes, no doubt
0:10:09 > 0:10:11# Cold rock rap - 49-er supreme
0:10:11 > 0:10:14# Is what I choose and I use I never lose to a team... #
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Me and Shane, we said this. We ran to Rick Rubin.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21"Yo, you got to hear this.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26"God has come down from heaven to rock the mic."
0:10:27 > 0:10:32Rick Rubin, boss of soon-to-be- legendary record label Def Jam.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34In the mid-80s, home to two of the biggest names in rap,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Run DMC and the Beastie Boys.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Always ahead of the game,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Rick was keen to sign Public Enemy as soon as possible.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44But there was a problem.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Rick didn't want to sign Flavor.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51And actually Chuck tells a funny story.
0:10:51 > 0:10:58He had a hard time explaining exactly what function Flavor would perform
0:10:58 > 0:11:00in the context of the band.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- I- didn't want Flavor in the group at the beginning.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Here we are trying to create The Clash with hip hop beats
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and we want to be just as important
0:11:09 > 0:11:11and on the cover of Melody Maker
0:11:11 > 0:11:13and NME and all these...
0:11:13 > 0:11:14No!
0:11:14 > 0:11:15Flavor?!
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Nobody wanted Flav. But they wanted me.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24And I said, "If you're going to get me, you've got to take our posse."
0:11:24 > 0:11:31Chuck D forced Flavor Flav down Def Jam's throat.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34# Uh-oh, Chuck They out to get us, man
0:11:34 > 0:11:37# Yo, we got to dust these boys off... #
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Chuck and the group signed to Def Jam in 1986,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43quickly recording their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46But due to the label's release schedule,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49the record didn't hit the stores until the following year.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50Hip-hop was moving so fast,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53rapping and production techniques were changing all the time.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57When the album finally came out, it was already sounding outdated.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58To make matters worse,
0:11:58 > 0:12:03Eric B and Rakim blew everybody away with a slick new style.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05MUSIC: "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B And Rakim
0:12:12 > 0:12:16Eric B And Rakim came out with their epic single
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Eric B Is President and I Know You Got Soul
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and that record, that was a game-changer.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24# Experiment like a scientist
0:12:24 > 0:12:26# You want to rhyme? You gotta sign my list
0:12:26 > 0:12:28# Cos I'm a manifest And bless the mic I hold
0:12:28 > 0:12:31# You want it next? Then you gotta have soul... #
0:12:31 > 0:12:34It just changed the whole terrain of rap and how you're supposed to rap.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37The style you're coming with. The musical style.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39And I was like "Oh!"
0:12:39 > 0:12:42All of a sudden, it wasn't about drum machines any more.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47It was going to be about sampling some atomic funk.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Despite themselves, they were lost in admiration.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57and they said, "This changes everything."
0:12:57 > 0:12:59The understood that as soon as it came out,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01everything they had cut was outmoded.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03We were happy for hip hop
0:13:03 > 0:13:09but mad that we were in the middle with an outdated record
0:13:09 > 0:13:11that meant something else. But we said,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15"We got to have a record that dominates the streets."
0:13:15 > 0:13:18They could've put their heads down or given up.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21They didn't do any of that. They went back to the studio
0:13:21 > 0:13:24and started to make the best records of their career.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26# Yes, the rhythm, the rebel
0:13:26 > 0:13:29# Without a pause I'm lowering my level
0:13:29 > 0:13:31# The hard rhymer Where you never been I'm in
0:13:31 > 0:13:33# You want stylin'? #
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Public Enemy had completely broken away
0:13:36 > 0:13:38from traditional hip-hop production.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Gone were the conventional rhythm tracks,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43replaced by a jarring wall of noise.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Rebel Without A Pause came out in the summer of 1987.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I will never forget it.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50What caught me was the siren sound of that record.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# Radio - suckers never play me
0:13:53 > 0:13:55# On the mix - don't just OK me now
0:13:55 > 0:13:58# Now known and grown when they're clocking my zone it's known
0:13:58 > 0:14:00# Snakin' and takin' everything that a brother owns
0:14:00 > 0:14:02# Hard... #
0:14:02 > 0:14:06The noise. There was no noise like that in music.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10This was like noise with a character.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Like the teapot thing or whatever that thing was in the back.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14HE MAKES WHINING SOUND
0:14:14 > 0:14:17# From a rebel it's final On black vinyl
0:14:17 > 0:14:19# Soul, rock and roll Comin' like a rhino
0:14:19 > 0:14:22# Tables turn - suckers burn to learn
0:14:22 > 0:14:25# They can't disable The power of my label... #
0:14:25 > 0:14:29It was innovative, it was creative, it was experimental
0:14:29 > 0:14:32but above all things it was loud.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36That record ripped through the Bronx, ripped through Brooklyn,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39ripped through upper Manhattan,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42ripped through Queens.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45We said, "Look, if we die tomorrow
0:14:45 > 0:14:50"this record here is our signature, this is it,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54"no looking back." That was a relief.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56# Yeah, boyee!
0:14:56 > 0:14:58# Bass - how low can you go?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00# Death row? What a brother don't... #
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Rebel Without A Pause became the blueprint for the Public Enemy sound.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06The group tried out their new material
0:15:06 > 0:15:08on the 1987 Def Jam European Tour.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10The first gig was London, England.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14It was like a spaceship landing. One minute they were making records.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17We heard the first single, second single...
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Next minute they were at Hammersmith Odeon in the UK
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and everybody from the UK scene were there.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23It all kind of built this atmosphere
0:15:23 > 0:15:26that something dangerous and exciting was going to happen
0:15:26 > 0:15:28and this was going to be a big show.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- # Here we go again - Turn it up
0:15:33 > 0:15:35# Bring the noise
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- # Turn it up - Eh-yo, Chuck
0:15:40 > 0:15:44- # This is how we do black, man - Bring the noise
0:15:44 > 0:15:47# They know they can get a smack for that. #
0:15:47 > 0:15:51We were fortunate to come out to face the hype in the UK
0:15:51 > 0:15:53with an intensity that matched the hype
0:15:53 > 0:15:57and songs that were our artillery to match the hype.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59# In this corner with the 98
0:15:59 > 0:16:01# Subject of suckers, object of hate
0:16:01 > 0:16:04# Who's the one some think is great?
0:16:04 > 0:16:06- # I'm that one.- Son of a gun...- #
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Public Enemy tore the roof off the Hammersmith Odeon.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Buzzing from their European success,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14they returned to their Long Island studio, 510 Franklin Street,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16to work on their new sound.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20And responsible for that was their production team, the Bomb Squad.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26As well as Chuck,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30the Bomb Squad consisted of multi-instrumentalist Eric Sadler
0:16:30 > 0:16:33and the brothers Keith and Hank Shocklee.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35I started collecting records since I was five.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40At the time I was 25 or 26,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I had amassed an incredible amount of records.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Doing Public Enemy and creating the album
0:16:47 > 0:16:50it was more of an experiment just to see
0:16:50 > 0:16:57whether or not I can take snatches of recorded music
0:16:57 > 0:16:59and use it in a recording,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04creating almost an orchestra or a band
0:17:04 > 0:17:06with all the samples.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Add some flavour to this, man.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10# Here we go, y'all
0:17:10 > 0:17:11# Little by little do you know?
0:17:11 > 0:17:13# We got the power and knowledge to move them
0:17:13 > 0:17:15# And still rock a super song for the cause... #
0:17:15 > 0:17:20The Bomb Squad's groundbreaking production centred on the sampler,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24an electronic device that allowed the user to record any sound,
0:17:24 > 0:17:25manipulate it, then play it back.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Keith, Hank and Eric filled their individual samplers
0:17:28 > 0:17:31with clips of old funk records, spending hours
0:17:31 > 0:17:34combining the different sounds into one new groove.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Up to that point when producers were...
0:17:37 > 0:17:39making rap records
0:17:39 > 0:17:43they would have two or three samples in a song.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Public Enemy would have 12 or 15 samples in a song.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03They would stack drum breaks on top of each other
0:18:03 > 0:18:09to make this entirely different clatter noise.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12You had no idea what record this came from.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18It became this brand new creation made out of found objects.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21# Your bad self
0:18:21 > 0:18:23# Help us break this down from off the shelf
0:18:23 > 0:18:25# Here's a music serving you So use it
0:18:25 > 0:18:28# Papa got a brand new funk... #
0:18:28 > 0:18:33Just reconfiguring and taking sounds and bits
0:18:33 > 0:18:39and placing there here and there to create a completely new composition.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43It was almost like you sat down and analysed every single track they had.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Where did they get that sample from? How did they make that sound?
0:18:46 > 0:18:49how's that DJ doing that? It was just different.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Hank Shocklee - to me he's like the Phil Spector of hip-hop
0:18:52 > 0:18:55because of his daringness to do something
0:18:55 > 0:18:59that's absolutely nuts at times and experiment and go for it.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03They broke every rule possible, you know.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05If a sample wasn't gritty enough,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Hank would through the record to the ground and rub it on the floor.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Completing Public Enemy's sonic arsenal
0:19:13 > 0:19:18was the innovative scratching of Norman Rogers, AKA DJ Terminator X,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21the only member of the band who spoke with his hands.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30At the count of three, I want you to tell me the name of my DJ.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31One, two, three.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35AUDIENCE: Terminator X!
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Terminator X, first and foremost, to me,
0:19:40 > 0:19:46was an ominous character. He was really tall. Wide guy.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49You could never see his eyes cos he always had them glasses on
0:19:49 > 0:19:52so you never could tell what state of mind he was in.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57With the X, the logo, the glasses and all that,
0:19:57 > 0:20:02it added to the whole dominance of being a DJ back there
0:20:02 > 0:20:04and busting out those sounds, man.
0:20:04 > 0:20:11Terminator X brought to the group a style that no other DJs had.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12Terminator X!
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Everybody throw your hands in the air!
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Terminator X! Come on, y'all! Come on y'all,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22You too! Terminator X.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25But of course, the music of Public Enemy is only half the story.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Their political fire is what drives their songs.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35And back in Ronald Reagan's America
0:20:35 > 0:20:38there was plenty to protest about if you were young and black.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42After years of civil rights gains in this country, going back to the '50s and 1960s,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46we saw this roll back of things happening around, er,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51voter registration, turn back of some of the civil rights policies,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55even lunch programmes were being cut during the 1980s Reagan era.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57'It was the crack era.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01'It was the explosion of crack cocaine on urban streets in America.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Something I had never seen before.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07'I remember being in New York and it was like a new drug and it just took hold massively'
0:21:07 > 0:21:11and there was a theory that it was kind of being
0:21:11 > 0:21:14allowed to happen to keep the black population down in a way,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17let them fight amongst themselves, bring themselves down
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and you had in Harlem for instance, this amazing real estate,
0:21:21 > 0:21:26which was deliberately being allowed to be run down, not be fixed.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Kick them out, get the developers in.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31There was a lot of nasty things going on.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34African-Americans seemed resigned to their situation.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39The political activism of the civil rights movement was a distant memory.
0:21:39 > 0:21:45We're 20 years past both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
0:21:45 > 0:21:49and even though there were politicians and figures
0:21:49 > 0:21:54who made attempts to fill the shoes of those folks who came before,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59for our generation, we just didn't see anyone filling that role.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02So the music has sort of filled the vacuum.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'One day Hank and I was hanging a flyer with Malcolm X on the cover
0:22:05 > 0:22:08'of the flyer of the gig we were presenting,'
0:22:08 > 0:22:12and this kid comes up and says, "Who's this Malcolm the 10th?"
0:22:12 > 0:22:16And we looked at each other and said, "Something's got to be done about that!"
0:22:16 > 0:22:20If this kid thinks Malcolm X is Malcolm the 10th,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24over the last 20 years, we've seen a dissolving
0:22:24 > 0:22:28of what has influenced us to be who we are.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30# Power and equality and I'm out to get it
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# I know some of you ain't with it
0:22:33 > 0:22:37# This party started right in '66 with a pro-black radical mix
0:22:37 > 0:22:41# Then at the hour of 12, some force cut the power and emerged from Hell
0:22:41 > 0:22:43# It was your so-called government
0:22:43 > 0:22:46- # that made this occur like the grafted devils they were.- #
0:22:47 > 0:22:51What we've continually tried to do is spark the curiosity in people
0:22:51 > 0:22:55to learn about themselves and also spark even, um,
0:22:55 > 0:23:00a lot of kids even of other ethnic creeds or whatever to learn
0:23:00 > 0:23:05the black man does have a culture and origin that should be respected.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07# J Edgar Hoover and he coulda' proved to...
0:23:07 > 0:23:09# He had King and X set up
0:23:09 > 0:23:13# Also the party with Newton, Cleaver and Seal, he ended
0:23:13 > 0:23:16# So get up, time to get 'em back, you got it
0:23:16 > 0:23:18# Get back on the track, you got it
0:23:18 > 0:23:22# Word from the honourable Elijah Muhammad, know who you are to be black. #
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Growing up as a white kid in the suburbs,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29no one was teaching me about black politics in school. Certainly not.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33You know, I would have no idea who Malcolm X was,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37if it wasn't for Public Enemy records.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38I mean, I've heard of Malcolm X
0:23:38 > 0:23:42but I didn't know or wasn't that interested until a PE record,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47because I figured if PE talk about him, this dude had to be about something, you know what I mean?
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I went to Catholic school.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53They wasn't teaching this. They was teaching me George Washington...
0:23:53 > 0:23:55cut down the cherry tree,
0:23:55 > 0:24:04Benjamin Franklin, but when Public Enemy started talking about historical figures,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08occasions and instances, it was an education for a young brother.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10# Fight the power. #
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Throughout Public Enemy's career,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Chuck D said the things white America didn't want to hear.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18Fight the Power is one of the clearest examples.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Chuck went for the jugular,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23attacking the King of Rock 'n' Roll for stealing the black man's music.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28# Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me, you see
0:24:28 > 0:24:32# Straight up racist, that sucker was, simple and plain, (mother fuck him and John Wayne)
0:24:32 > 0:24:36# Cos I'm black and I'm proud and already I'm hyped plus I'm amped
0:24:36 > 0:24:39# Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps... #
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me,
0:24:42 > 0:24:43he was straight out racist.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Like that. That was unheard of,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48people weren't doing that kind of name-dropping.
0:24:48 > 0:24:49What Chuck was doing was saying,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52you know, enough of these white heroes,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55we want to celebrate some other heroes as well, you know?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00It was shocking. It was shocking.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02And when people talk about Chuck D being Malcolm X,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05that was the kind of stuff that was Malcolm X-esque.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08# I got a letter from the government the other day
0:25:08 > 0:25:11# I opened and read it, it said they were suckers
0:25:11 > 0:25:14# They wanted me for the Army or whatever
0:25:14 > 0:25:17# Picture me givin' a damn, I said never. #
0:25:17 > 0:25:20And for their second LP, Chuck's rabble-rousing rhymes
0:25:20 > 0:25:24combined perfectly with the explosive Bomb Squad production
0:25:24 > 0:25:27to create one of pop music's all-time classic albums.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the greatest
0:25:31 > 0:25:32hip-hop album of all time.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35They had a complete mastery
0:25:35 > 0:25:38of the recording studio as an instrument
0:25:38 > 0:25:40that no-one has ever topped.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42# Nevertheless, they could not understand
0:25:42 > 0:25:45# That I'm a black man and I can never be a veteran. #
0:25:45 > 0:25:52The politics of the time helped drive and connect perfectly with the sound.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59People say to me, what is it comparable to?
0:25:59 > 0:26:01I say it's comparable the best work of Bob Dylan,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03to Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06it's comparable to A Love Supreme by John Coltrane.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08It's the Beatles' White Album.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10# Listen, I see it on their faces
0:26:10 > 0:26:12# First come, first served basis
0:26:12 > 0:26:15# Standin' in line, checkin' the time
0:26:15 > 0:26:17# Homeboys playin' the kerb, same ones that used to do herb. #
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I was mesmerised by it.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22I told everyone who wants to understand hip-hop,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26no matter what area you're from, you've got to listen to Nation of Millions from top to bottom.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Because from there, you can see the strands that created NWA and Dr Dre,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34that created Timbaland and Missy Elliott. You can see the strands
0:26:34 > 0:26:38that created Kanye West and Eminem and all these other folks. It's all there.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40# Succotash is a means for kids to make cash
0:26:40 > 0:26:42# Selling drugs to the brother man instead of the other man
0:26:42 > 0:26:44# Brothers and sisters! I'm talking 'bout... #
0:26:44 > 0:26:48It Takes a Nation of Millions sold half a million copies
0:26:48 > 0:26:52in its first month of release. And if you were going to drop pro-black politics
0:26:52 > 0:26:57on a large audience in 1980s America, you needed some muscle backing you up.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Griff. Mr Martial Artist! HE CHUCKLES
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Griff had this kinda dynamo vibe to him.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13He was the big thing in the small package.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Brother in the red beret goes by the name of Professor Griff.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20This other guy who was kind of so militant,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23that even someone like Chuck was like, "You've got to calm down a bit."
0:27:23 > 0:27:27You've got this little guy and four guys onstage,
0:27:27 > 0:27:33doing karate movements, marching in unison.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36They're called the Security of the First World. Why?
0:27:36 > 0:27:41Because we believe that black people are first world people.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43I first seen these two guys come out,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46doing these choreographed military steps, with these fake Uzis...
0:27:46 > 0:27:52that looked real, know what I'm saying? The crowd went crazy.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57It wasn't an act, these guys were for real.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It's not like they hired a bunch of background dancers,
0:28:00 > 0:28:05the S1Ws were really the S1Ws, and they were on the tourbus,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09doing hundreds of push-ups every day. You didn't fuck with those guys.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11I was at the Hollywood Palladium,
0:28:11 > 0:28:17watching the Public Enemy show one time, and a guy jumped onstage.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22And it looked like he wanted to do something to Flav, he was running towards Flav,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27but he had ththis crazed look on his face and I saw Griff grab the guy
0:28:27 > 0:28:31with one hand, turn a certain way, and in the third move, this guy was
0:28:31 > 0:28:34locked up in a certain way and Griff was throwing him
0:28:34 > 0:28:39back in the audieence, jumping down there with him with the S1s,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43and they all escorted this guy out the place! Concert continues.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47We never started trouble.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51We don't boast to be badasses or anything like that.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54It's like, if something comes my way in a situation,
0:28:54 > 0:28:56fighting is a last resort. That's what we was taught.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00If your back is against the wall and there's only one way out,
0:29:00 > 0:29:01you have to do what you've gotta do.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05The S1Ws were shocking, but what I liked about it was
0:29:05 > 0:29:07the show of togetherness, the show of unity.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10That's what the whole thing was, in my eyes,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13these guys are prepared to defend what Chuck is saying.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18It was like, "Yeah, I said it. And what? And what?"
0:29:19 > 0:29:23That serious, no-nonsense kinda demeanour, it was very needed -
0:29:23 > 0:29:27number one, to show young black men that we could be disciplined,
0:29:27 > 0:29:33clean, respectful, articulate, not disrespecting women,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37not spewing the madness, not doing all the things that I guess
0:29:37 > 0:29:41the stereotypical image of black men, we don't have to do those things.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Professor Griff wasn't just the hired heavy.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48A passionate believer in Black Power and the Nation of Islam,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52he was made Public Enemy's Minister of Information. It was his role
0:29:52 > 0:29:57to research political content for Chuck's lyrics and handle the press. He was also the tour manager.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01That meant making sure the man with the clock around his neck was on time for gigs.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04# It's going to be bedlam if we get 'em
0:30:04 > 0:30:06# Trigger's cocked, nowhere to flock. #
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Public Enemy had a kind of built-in instability.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17You've got Flavor and Griff in the same band. It made no sense.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19It's never made any sense.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23The fact that they managed to do anything with these two guys,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27these two polar opposite character types in the same band -
0:30:27 > 0:30:28completely miraculous.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35I've never smoked, never took a drink. I wasn't the party type.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Strait-laced, so to speak.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# It's going to be bedlam if we get 'em
0:30:41 > 0:30:44# Trigger's cocked, nowhere to flock. #
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Somehow I'm meeting this dude, Flav, who's Chuck's friend,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52who's stealing cars, selling drugs, doing drugs, doing all this kind
0:30:52 > 0:30:57of stuff, and now I have to partner up with this guy and manage THAT?
0:30:57 > 0:30:58Yo, man! We was in this shop,
0:30:58 > 0:31:03Terminator showed me these things, I said, "I'm going to get 'em," and I got 'em!
0:31:03 > 0:31:07The dude never owned a set of luggage!
0:31:07 > 0:31:11He had plastic bags with his clothes and deodorant and socks and underwear in.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13Like, about 15 bags!
0:31:13 > 0:31:18Like Griff, Chuck and the S1Ws didn't smoke, drink or do drugs.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20By the time Nation of Millions hit the charts,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Flavor Flav was into all of them.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28Tonight... tonight is the night Flav is going to fuck up,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31because I'm fucked up, y'know what I'm saying?
0:31:31 > 0:31:33I'm fucked up, y'know what I'm saying?
0:31:33 > 0:31:35What kind of example are you
0:31:35 > 0:31:38to young black men that we're trying to set an example for?!
0:31:38 > 0:31:42You're doing everything opposite of what we're trying to do.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46We're trying to save our people, but we've got to drag you out of the crack house!
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Any time that I ever got with my group, I was always functionable.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55I never was a dysfunctionable addict... a dysfunctional addict.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- Just come on, Rico! - I didn't do nothin'!
0:31:58 > 0:32:00You are doin' something, just as you speak.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03You got those dark glasses on, you spillin' orange juice all on me.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08- All over you!- Oh. - Hah, you wrong again!
0:32:09 > 0:32:16'The only thing I say that drugs did to me'
0:32:16 > 0:32:19was that it made me miss some of my shows.
0:32:23 > 0:32:30There were shows where one of the S1s had to don Flavor's clothing,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33put the glasses on, put the clock on.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38So we tried to pull it off, dressing someone else up as Flavor.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41Some guy in the front row went like this...
0:32:43 > 0:32:44"That ain't Flavor!"
0:32:46 > 0:32:49It blew the cover off of everything, man, we had to confess.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54It was embarrassing, really embarrassing, man.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Lemme hear you say "HO!"
0:32:59 > 0:33:01He may have driven Griff crazy,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04but Flavor Flav was an essential part of Public Enemy.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09I don't think Chuck would have ever gotten across without Flavor.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13Because the message was such a strong message and powerful,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16he kinda offset that with a humorous side.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21- I wanna do my dance, can I do my dance?- Do your dance, go ahead.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26Terminator X, give him a beat! Let him do his goddamn dance.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30BEATS AND SCRATCHING
0:33:33 > 0:33:35He was always like the outcast of the outcasts.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Once you're the outcast of the outcasts,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40then how do actually fit yourself into the world?
0:33:40 > 0:33:44You really don't, you kinda have to spin around yourself.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46That's Flavor Flav.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51And I salute him and respect him for his free-minded self.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Although it has to be tapered when it comes down to a team.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59The group was a real clash of characters, but somehow it worked. Record sales climbed
0:33:59 > 0:34:03into their millions. They performed alongside established acts like LL Cool J,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Run DMC and Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Their success gave them a platform to preach their politics
0:34:09 > 0:34:12to a large audience of both blacks and whites.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16- Everybody say, "Fuck the racists!" - CROWD: Fuck the...
0:34:16 > 0:34:19No, no, you gotta say it with some attitude. Say, "Fuck the racists!"
0:34:19 > 0:34:22CROWD: Fuck the racists!
0:34:26 > 0:34:30We brought racism by supremacy and we put it right in the face of
0:34:30 > 0:34:34white people and said, "This is what we had to deal with all our lives.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37"Here's a mirror, check this out." "Oh. OK, I understand."
0:34:37 > 0:34:39So now the dialogue is started.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43But their detractors countered it was Public Enemy who were racist,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46inciting hatred rather than promoting equality.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51I consider this motherfucker guilty. I'mma ask y'all, is he guilty?
0:34:51 > 0:34:52CROWD: YEAH!
0:34:52 > 0:34:55'Somebody's going to come out and say I'm a separatist.'
0:34:55 > 0:34:57It's absolutely crazy,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00because what rap is doing is bringing everybody together.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03That's why you hear the bad news about rap.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06This only comes from a white supremist viewpoint.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11They don't want to see blacks and whites mixed together.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16Public Enemy, in their music, it's kinda rabble-rousing.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Some record stores and radio shows banned their music.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23The group captured the mood on the track Incident At 66.6FM,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27which sampled real-life listeners on a radio phone-in.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31We've been getting some callers who're shocked by the things you're saying.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33- It's on the air.- Hello? Hello?- Yes?
0:35:33 > 0:35:38- I've seen these guys, I saw them warm up for the Beastie Boys last year. - How were they?
0:35:38 > 0:35:41I thought it was one of the most appalling things I've ever seen.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45There were two gentlemen in cages either side of the stage with fake Uzis.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48They were... Jesus, it was unbelievable.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50What was pissing off parents
0:35:50 > 0:35:56more than anything in suburbia in the late '80s was, you know, black music.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00You may never have heard of some of these stars, but your kids have.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02They're heroes to a whole new generation.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06# Don't believe the hype, don't don't don't believe the hype. #
0:36:06 > 0:36:10When little Johnny took the Public Enemy poster home and put it
0:36:10 > 0:36:16up on his wall, you know Mr and Mrs White America got very angry.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20In other words, like - "Johnny? Johnny?
0:36:20 > 0:36:23"Who are these black guys you have on the wall here..."
0:36:23 > 0:36:27HE LAUGHS "..Carrying guns and all this stuff,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29"talking about Black Power?"
0:36:29 > 0:36:34The problem was not just that they were educating black people about the racist power structure
0:36:34 > 0:36:37in which they lived, it's that they were educating white people
0:36:37 > 0:36:43that in many cases had been socialised into a racist structure, sometimes without even knowing it.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47And this guy comes out from Long Island, says, "Hold on, have you thought about this?"
0:36:47 > 0:36:51You're like, "That makes sense. Never thought about it like that before."
0:36:53 > 0:36:55But all the attention
0:36:55 > 0:36:59only made them more popular. Having conquered the charts, it was a natural progression
0:36:59 > 0:37:05to move into the movies. Spike Lee was known for his thought-provoking films on black culture.
0:37:05 > 0:37:12In 1989, he asked the group to write a song for his controversial new movie, Do The Right Thing.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16Set in a blistering New York summer, it tackled racial tension in Brooklyn.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Chuck and the Bomb Squad wrote the song Fight The Power for the soundtrack.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Spike made it the film's recurring theme.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26A lot of youth in the cities were facing simlar issues
0:37:26 > 0:37:30and that's why it was so popular, because even if it was
0:37:30 > 0:37:34a false sense of empowerment, it was still something that we had
0:37:34 > 0:37:37to call our own and that could articulate how we felt.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40# Fight the power, lemme hear you say fight the power
0:37:40 > 0:37:42# We got to fight the power. #
0:37:42 > 0:37:45He had this song, Fight The Power, has this driving beat,
0:37:45 > 0:37:47sampling James Brown, you know.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50And there's two scenes that stand out for me.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55One is the opening scene, where you see Rosie Perez dancing very aggressively to it.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Then the second thing is Radio Rahim with his big radio -
0:37:59 > 0:38:01cos that's what we carried back in the day,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04I had one myself - and you'd put your cassette in there
0:38:04 > 0:38:08and just play the songs over and over again.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13And what was really deep is when the radio got destroyed near the end
0:38:13 > 0:38:17of the film, cos it's almost like they were attempting to silence the community,
0:38:17 > 0:38:21and the song represented the voice of the community.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25Motherfucker! You nigger motherfucker!
0:38:29 > 0:38:34Do The Right Thing was a box-office smash and was nominated for an Oscar.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37In the late '80s, it seemed you couldn't escape Public Enemy.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42The accompanying music video cemented their position as the Black Panthers of pop.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46To the outsider, the group's rise to the top appeared flawless.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48But on the inside, it was a different story.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Flavor's drug-taking affected his reliability.
0:38:52 > 0:38:58Confrontations with ex-military man and tour manager Professor Griff were inevitable.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Tried to tell him to be on time, he had this thing about,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04you know, being on "Flavor time" is what we called it.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Then he showed up late and Griff just kinda, like, snapped.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13People were late, they didn't have their clothes ready,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15so I'm saying, "Do you forget your purpose why we're here?
0:39:15 > 0:39:19"The main purpose we're here is to do a show."
0:39:19 > 0:39:24And for them to be late to their own gig - come on, that's tacky. That's not businesslike at all.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28The story goes Griff attacked Flavor, and in Flav's recent autobiography,
0:39:28 > 0:39:32he claims the assault left him with broken bones.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35I didn't break that man's ribs like that.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38I punched the radio and the clock.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Like, destroying those things,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43thinking that maybe this will get through to him.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I had a feeling that he would probably be
0:39:45 > 0:39:49surprised about what he read in my book, y'know what I'm saying?
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Cos these are things that he didn't know was on my mind.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55The only thing you can remember about me is I beat you up?!
0:39:55 > 0:39:59You don't remember the fucking people that wanted to beat you up
0:39:59 > 0:40:02and me and the S1Ws protecting you and coming to your aid
0:40:02 > 0:40:04while you high and drunk?
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Griff doesn't live inside my body
0:40:07 > 0:40:13so he's not going to feel what I feel. He's on the other end of it.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19Angry and upset, Flavor Flav claims he turned up to the studio with a loaded gun.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21I was about to put his lights out.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24And if I would have put his lights out, if I would have shot that man
0:40:24 > 0:40:28in his head, I would not be sitting here talking to you guys today.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32And I thank God for giving me the strength not to kill Griff.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Bad relations between Flav and Griff were a continuing problem.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43But in 1989, things got a whole lot worse.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46In May, the Washington Times sent journalist David Mills
0:40:46 > 0:40:50to interview Professor Griff. A number of topics were discussed,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54but when the article was published, all the attention focused on one sentence.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Griff reportedly told Mills,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59"Jews are responsible for the majority of wickedness
0:40:59 > 0:41:01"that goes on across the globe."
0:41:01 > 0:41:04With the media scrutinising their every move, it was a PR disaster.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08The resulting fallout threatened to end Public Enemy's career.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12You're at the height of your success, everything has gone right.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15That happens, then everything just...
0:41:15 > 0:41:20I just know when I read about it I was like, "What? And he said that?
0:41:20 > 0:41:26"And now...? The powers that... Now he has to lead a group...
0:41:26 > 0:41:28"What happened?" I was very confused.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31The Griff situation was...
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Was... To me, I'm going to be straight,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37was a selfish call at that time,
0:41:37 > 0:41:42because whether that's his belief or whatever you want to believe,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45I'm not going to get into that, it affected everybody else.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47You know, I get associated with that.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49I think that the thing that hurt us
0:41:49 > 0:41:55once again was the fact that we're being seen as being haters.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58When we were not the case at all.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01And I think that the incident with the Jews was something that,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05to me, was irresponsible.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09The group was controversial enough, doing what Chuck was doing.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13They had enough on their plate with Chuck speaking so directly out
0:42:13 > 0:42:15against the racist, white power structure,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18without them making irrational statements
0:42:18 > 0:42:20that they couldn't even intellectually defend.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23It wasn't the first time Griff had brought up
0:42:23 > 0:42:27contentious issues in the press. The band often discussed ideas
0:42:27 > 0:42:30about how to regain a consciousness for African-Americans,
0:42:30 > 0:42:34and this often spilled over into the black community's relationship
0:42:34 > 0:42:37with other ethnic groups. But this quote was indefensible.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Did he really say those words or were they taken out of context?
0:42:41 > 0:42:46The way it was kind of put out there was definitely not my sentiment.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49I never had this hatred for Jewish people,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53never had this hatred for white people like they say.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Hell, you could take bits and pieces
0:42:55 > 0:42:58of this conversation we're having right now and cut it up
0:42:58 > 0:43:00and make it seem like I hate some damn body.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03My temperament and my aggressive way I talk
0:43:03 > 0:43:05and the passion that you see coming from me,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07you understand what I'm saying?
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Hell, we can do that all day long in the editing room.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13I'd just finished reading The Secret Relationship Between Blacks And Jews,
0:43:13 > 0:43:17which was given to me by somebody IN Public Enemy.
0:43:17 > 0:43:22This conversation was going on all the time, about the control
0:43:22 > 0:43:26and who owns these companies and why are this group of people
0:43:26 > 0:43:30always doing this and controlling that and having this kind of influence.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34That talk went on all the time, every day.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38And that bit of information that I put in that particular interview
0:43:38 > 0:43:41with David Mills was given to me by somebody in the group.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Why am I taking the heat for it?
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Public Enemy's Jewish publicist,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Bill Adler, remembers things differently.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52I had a conversation with him and it was really,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55it was kind of surreal in a way.
0:43:55 > 0:44:02Because he told me he got a lot of the ideas from a book
0:44:02 > 0:44:05that had been published by the Nation of Islam
0:44:05 > 0:44:08called The Secret Relationship Between Blacks And Jews,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12and it's a big, thick book. And he started quoting Henry Ford,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15the American industrialist, on the subject of Jews.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19And I said, "Griff, you know, I grew up in Detroit.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23"Henry Ford was a notorious racist,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26"in addition to being an anti-Semite."
0:44:26 > 0:44:32And I said, "He would have as readily and as happily
0:44:32 > 0:44:38"upholstered the seats of his cars with your black hide
0:44:38 > 0:44:41"as with my Jewish hide, just so you know."
0:44:41 > 0:44:45He said, "Bill, I can't help it, it's in the book."
0:44:45 > 0:44:48So at that point I understood that, you know,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51he accepted these ideas as a matter of faith.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55Whether Griff's words were reported correctly or not, the resulting media storm
0:44:55 > 0:44:59required swift action from the band's leader, Chuck D.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01I remember being around at that time,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04you know, and how tough that decision was for Chuck.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07It was difficult, difficult.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10They were the biggest rap group and one of the biggest pop groups
0:45:10 > 0:45:15in the world at that time. And you're told you've got to get rid of one of your best friends
0:45:15 > 0:45:18out of the band because of his anti-Semitism.
0:45:18 > 0:45:19That's a lot of weight.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24He felt torn between his loyalty to his old friend,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28Professor Griff, and his...
0:45:31 > 0:45:35rejection of Griff's ideas.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Nobody wants to go around being called anti-Semitic
0:45:38 > 0:45:42because I think it's a game that the press likes to also play,
0:45:42 > 0:45:47because you have to find the reasons why each and every black person associated with Public Enemy
0:45:47 > 0:45:50is anti-Semitic, and so it's something that they could play with
0:45:50 > 0:45:54and make fun out of and just keep on building up
0:45:54 > 0:45:58because they find it interesting to sell papers or TV programmes,
0:45:58 > 0:46:00but as far as Public Enemy's concerned,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03that's a ridiculous statement.
0:46:03 > 0:46:04It was a total mess.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07It was a mess with me not just getting into it
0:46:07 > 0:46:10and handling it after it was said and done.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14And I just let it go, I said, "You know what, boys will be boys,
0:46:14 > 0:46:18"men will be men, it'll wash away."
0:46:18 > 0:46:20It did not wash away.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25Def Jam's publicist, Bill Adler, refused to work with the group
0:46:25 > 0:46:28and criticism from the world's media continue to build.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Public Enemy's mission to change the consciousness of a generation
0:46:31 > 0:46:34was about to be wrecked by one interview.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Chuck had to act to save his group.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40He released a statement, apologised and sacked Griff.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42Did I get thrown under the bus?
0:46:42 > 0:46:45By organisations, by people in the group? Yeah, I did.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Did it have to happen that way? No.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52How do you rebuild from that? There's inside problems,
0:46:52 > 0:46:56there's this and that, and that was...
0:46:56 > 0:47:01that was the key of everything just going sour.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Most bands would have buckled under the strain,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08but Chuck responded to the Griff situation with typical style.
0:47:08 > 0:47:09Head-on.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16In their next album's stand-out track, Welcome to the Terrordome,
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Chuck vented his anger, re-igniting the whole argument.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Public Enemy didn't come to mainstream attention
0:47:22 > 0:47:26until recently, when one of the group made explicitly anti-semitic remarks.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29There was a furore, the group apologised,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32but then, in their latest rap, these words.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36# Crucifixion ain't no fiction So called chosen frozen
0:47:36 > 0:47:40# Apology made to whoever pleases Still they got me like Jesus. #
0:47:40 > 0:47:44Released in 1990, Fear of a Black Planet continued the political rage
0:47:44 > 0:47:46of their previous album.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50I can't walk in the park just because I'm dark...
0:47:50 > 0:47:55As well as preaching the teachings of black nationalists,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59they also tackled many social issues that affected African-American communities,
0:47:59 > 0:48:04like the treatment of blacks by the police in Anti-Nigger Machine...
0:48:06 > 0:48:10..emergency call response times in 911 Is A Joke...
0:48:10 > 0:48:12I dialled 911 a long time ago
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Don't you see how late they reacting?
0:48:15 > 0:48:18They only come when they wanna...
0:48:18 > 0:48:23And the stereotyping of black people in the movies on the track Burn Hollywood Burn.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25I'll check out a movie, but it'll take a black one to move me.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29If Def Jam were worried about the Griff scandal's effect, they needn't have been.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Fear of a Black Planet was a top ten album on both sides of the Atlantic.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Public Enemy were more popular than ever.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40The group went on tour with big-name artists like U2.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42They even had a presence in Terminator 2.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Lead character John Connor wore their T-shirt throughout the movie.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49# Turn it up! #
0:48:49 > 0:48:52They further crossed over with their fourth hit album
0:48:52 > 0:48:56in a row, Apocalypse 91: The Empire Strikes Black.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00It featured a new version of Bring The Noise with thrash band Anthrax.
0:49:00 > 0:49:01Rap Metal was born.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04# The brothers and sisters across the country
0:49:04 > 0:49:06# Has us up for the war
0:49:06 > 0:49:08# They gonna have to wait #
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Chuck still refused to rein in his political preaching.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16The album also included a track which caused another media outcry.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19In Arizona today, another march on the state capital.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24Another call for a state holiday to honour Martin Luther King Jr.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28People were asking for a holiday in the United States
0:49:28 > 0:49:31for Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35It would be the first black person to have a holiday named after him,
0:49:35 > 0:49:40and you had two states that said no, New Hampshire and Arizona.
0:49:40 > 0:49:46I decide to get busy in writing a song about how I felt, and I just
0:49:46 > 0:49:50thought it was a bunch of crap that this state would avoid the issue.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Basically, we move on the state of Arizona, on politicians,
0:49:59 > 0:50:05on a fictional racist governor, who've got all these things going on.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07At the end we kind of blow up the spot.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11The video ends with the murder of three fictitious Arizona officials.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15One is poisoned, another shot, and finally the governor is blown up.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18They said the video was so controversial,
0:50:18 > 0:50:22the nerve of rappers, taking on government officials.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25MTV agreed and promptly banned the video.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27When I watched the video the first time,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29I felt queasy inside and thought,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33"My heavens, who would ever want to put something like this together?"
0:50:33 > 0:50:36That sends a clear message that the way to fight violence is with violence.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Is that what you were trying to do?
0:50:39 > 0:50:42There's a lot of reaction from a lot of people, and I think
0:50:42 > 0:50:47the purpose of rap music or any kind of music, I feel, is to raise dialogue.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51It was clear Chuck had lost none of his political drive.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55But as the '90s rolled on, the group lost their momentum.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Griff was long gone. The Bomb Squad were working on other projects.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01Flavor's personal demons saw him regularly in jail.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05And by the time Public Enemy's 5th album came out in 1994,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07hip-hop was changing too.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10I started noticing in '91-'92,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13they're showing a lot more videos that are not the kind of
0:51:13 > 0:51:18substantive stuff that Public Enemy and other groups were doing.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20RAPS: Like this and like that and like this
0:51:20 > 0:51:23The corporations seized it by the throats,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26and threw it down the tubes.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Gangsta became marketable, it became contrived.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Now it's all about bitches and hoes, how much money you've got,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37flossing, blinging, spinning rims.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40The whole materialistic kind of vibe.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I definitely believe that
0:51:44 > 0:51:48someone said, "Enough of this Public Enemy stuff.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50"These guys have got to go."
0:51:50 > 0:51:52Whatever form that means,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55eventually they were off the radio.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58# Baby got a problem sayin' bye-bye... #
0:51:59 > 0:52:06I'd argue the representations in the '80s were progressive
0:52:06 > 0:52:09compared to the average image I'm seeing of black people on TV today.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12We don't even talk about it, we just accept it.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The only place you see black people is MTV, and what are they doing?
0:52:15 > 0:52:19Shaking their backside telling you how much money they've got.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25It would take film director Spike Lee to get Public Enemy back on form.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Writing the soundtrack to his 1998 film He Got Game,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31the band turned in their strongest material in years.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35# If man is the father, the son is the centre of the Earth
0:52:35 > 0:52:37# In the middle of the Universe
0:52:37 > 0:52:41# Then why is this verse coming six times rehearsed? #
0:52:41 > 0:52:47After nearly eight years out of the group, He Got Game signalled the return of Professor Griff.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50But it would be Public Enemy's last album for Def Jam Records.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54Terminator X quit the following year, leaving the music industry behind
0:52:54 > 0:52:56to run an ostrich farm in North Carolina.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03Since then, Public Enemy have taken their career into their own hands.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07They were one of the first bands to release an internet-only album in 1999.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11From 2005 onwards they've put out records on their own label SLAMjamz.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Their latest material proves they've lost none of the fire
0:53:15 > 0:53:17that fuelled the early days.
0:53:17 > 0:53:22# We ain't just said just about anything just to get those out there. #
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Perhaps the strangest development is Flavor Flav's recent career
0:53:26 > 0:53:28as a star of reality TV.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31It's called Flavor Of Love.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35I've put 20 girls in my crib, and I dated them all,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38trying to find the right one for your man.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Fans tuned in to Flavor Of Love in their millions,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45the show boasted the highest viewing figures in VH1's history.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49But it's a long way off the original message of Public Enemy.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54I don't think in no shape, form or fashion, Flavor doing Flavor Of Love
0:53:54 > 0:53:59tarnishes or puts a blemish on what PE records have done, cos it can't.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03It's two completely different things.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05You're not seeing the real Flavor Flav.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08You're seeing the character he's playing to have a TV career,
0:54:08 > 0:54:09and why the hell not?
0:54:09 > 0:54:12I want a little party, you know?
0:54:12 > 0:54:16'Let's be truthful, even on those reality shows,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18'Flavor wasn't the fool.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20'It was all those women around.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23'He was just the bait to get them fools there.'
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Why wouldn't a reality show be up Flavor's alley?
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Flavor Flav was made to be seen.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34He is seriously the symbol of reality TV,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36whether I think reality TV is good or bad.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Do I dig everything he does? I don't dig everything anybody does.
0:54:40 > 0:54:41I'm my own man.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45I wasn't surprised by the reality shows,
0:54:45 > 0:54:50but I was saddened by it, cos he's actually older than Chuck,
0:54:50 > 0:54:54and to see him reduced to basically this pimp-like figure,
0:54:54 > 0:54:58with all these women, given the history of Public Enemy...
0:55:02 > 0:55:04..it was sad.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06It was sad watching it, but I knew Flavor needed money.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09I'm like, come on, Flavor! No, bro.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12We didn't come all this way, do all we'd done,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15to leave that kind of legacy.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21Now young kids my daughter's age have to look through
0:55:21 > 0:55:26the lens of VH1 to find out what Public Enemy was about.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32And all they're seeing is you pimping on TV. Pimping, dude?
0:55:32 > 0:55:36Come the fuck on, dude, is that how we're going to leave this legacy?
0:55:36 > 0:55:39I never respond to the criticisms, ever.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43I let people say what they say and I keep going.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46You know what I'm saying? It's like bumper cars.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49The shit bumps off of me, bounces off of me,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53goes to somebody else, bounces off them, goes to somebody else.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55I never care.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Know what I'm saying? Let me tell you something.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02The only one that can judge me is God.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03No other man can judge me,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06so fuck what another man has to say about me.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09# Rolling Stones of the rap game, not braggin'
0:56:09 > 0:56:11# Lips bigger than Jagger, not saggin'
0:56:11 > 0:56:13# Spell it backwards, I'ma leave it at that
0:56:13 > 0:56:16# That ain't got nothing to do with rap. #
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Today, Public Enemy are the Rolling Stones of the rap game.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Hip-hop ambassadors, touring the world playing their
0:56:23 > 0:56:25extensive back catalogue with a full live band.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28And despite all the controversy and all the arguments,
0:56:28 > 0:56:34the original members remain friends and still perform together.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36# Screamin' gangsta, 20 years later
0:56:36 > 0:56:39# Of course endorsed while consciousness faded
0:56:39 > 0:56:41# New generation's believin' them fables
0:56:41 > 0:56:43# Gangsta boogie on two turntables. #
0:56:43 > 0:56:48Getting close to 30 years as a group, and you can count on two hands
0:56:48 > 0:56:52the amount of bands that last 30 years as a continuing, working band,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56making records, touring the world at the level they're doing it at.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00So the legacy is kind of untouchable.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03# So it's time to leave you a preview
0:57:03 > 0:57:06# So you too can review what we do
0:57:06 > 0:57:07# If you don't stand for something you fall for anything
0:57:07 > 0:57:11# Harder than you think is a beautiful thing. #
0:57:11 > 0:57:14I don't think we would've had a black president
0:57:14 > 0:57:17if it hadn't been for groups like Public Enemy,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20cos they kind of politicised a whole generation in America.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23Did a generation of young whites vote for him
0:57:23 > 0:57:26because they were brought up on hip-hop?
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Did we have something to do with that? Of course we did.
0:57:33 > 0:57:39The legend of Chuck D, Flav and Griff and Terminator will live forever.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43They was the most influential hip-hop groups in the world, without question.
0:57:43 > 0:57:49One of the greatest musical entities in history
0:57:49 > 0:57:50is Public Enemy.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53You don't believe me, go listen to the records.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:42 > 0:58:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk