Album Review: Public Enemy’s What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down
It’s been a big year for the iconic Hip Hop group, Public Enemy. After announcing on April 1 that their apparent split with hype man Flavor Flav after his supposed antics at a Bernie rally was indeed a hoax, they have been far more active in 2020 than in over a decade. With Chuck D having participated in super group, Prophets of Rage with B Real and Tom Morello, Chuck reunited with Flava Flav. The result was a fuel-injected blast from the past reminiscent of their politically and socially-driven earlier work.
Public Enemy’s new album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down, takes listeners through a virtual museum of hip hop sounds with shiny, new, fresh content. Chuck D has always been an icon of social consciousness and intelligent lyrics. He continues to thrive in this fashion.
“State of the Union (STFU)” was the first single released from the album. The track is a laser-focused, energized tome, aimed squarely at Donald Trump. The tune is the perfect vehicle to set the confrontational, thought-provoking tone for PE’s latest effort.
“Public Enemy Number Won” contains a sound bite from the Beastie Boys (who actually rap on this track) and features legends, RUN DMC. If those names don’t take you back then you’re probably too young to remember how those cutting edge acts led the late 80s hip hop charge to commercial success. The track also features classic Flava Flav in what is easily one of the best verses of, not only the album, but of his career.
The star-studded remake of “Fight The Power: Remix 2020,” which was introduced to the world at the BET Awards earlier this Summer, is another high point that simmers with poignant nostalgia. While the song “Rest In Beats” pays tribute to multiple MCs who have passed over the years over a slow, heavy-hitting beat.
In “GRID,” the PE aims in a funk-induced, psychedelic direction with the help of Cypress Hill and George Clinton. The full range of hip hop is revealed on this masterpiece of a record with this track highlighting the genre’s debt to the funk beat Clinton and his P-Funk All-Stars have made a living out of.
The Long Island legends kept it true to their musical foundations in both lyrical content and production. Since their split with Terminator X, the group remains consistently on-topic. Every track has a specific purpose, never deviating from its intended course. The recording is timeless and timely (and Flav is still clocking time). It is undoubtedly cathartic to listen to this new Public Enemy LP; they’ve only become increasingly relevant with time. Add this monster of an LP to their long list of accomplishments.
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