Public Enemy are by far my favorite rap group. One of my college roommates had It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and he played it frequently. I love their style, their logo, their militant stance, Chuck D's heavy social and political awareness, Flavor Flav's cartoonish jester role and his giant clock on a chain, and the scratching of DJ Terminator X.
Bring the Noise was initially released as a single, then appeared on the Nation of Millions album. It is one of rap music's essential songs, upping the ante on the new school era with a more confrontational, afrocentric, aggressive and definitely louder sound, thanks to the stunning production work of the Bomb Squad. It starts off with Malcolm X saying Too black, too strong, from his 1963 speech entitled Message to the Grass Roots. Before we know what's happening, at 0:06 the music is in our face, Flavor Flav saying Yo Chuck, these honeydrippers are still fronting on us. Chuck D's deep booming declaration comes in with Bass! How low can you go? Death row, what a brother know.
The rest of the song is dense poetic social commentary and complex music samples and beats. The lyrics focus on black pride, Public Enemy themselves and their reputation, the influence of other rap artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J, rhymes on Sonny Bono, Yoko Ono, and Anthrax (a metal band with whom Chuck D would record a version of this song), the suggestion that black radio stations won't play this song, and Flavor Flav's esoteric asides. Musically, there are samples of Funkadelic, James Brown, and the Commodores. Lots of little sound tidbits for the ears.
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