In 1994, everyone loves gangsta rap and no one would ever want to disown it, even if Chuck D himself came to do it, indeed, it would be much easier to disown Chuck D himself: that's pretty much what happens when Public Enemy release their fifth album, three years after the last one.
The East Coast group comes from four classic records and a questionable compilation and takes a strong position against the new trend in hip-hop: Chuck D continues to offer political and socio-conscious stanzas, but fans and insiders are mainly devoted to what is seen as a meaningless crusade of what is now a former hero against their favorite music. The record is an announced failure, despite managing to enter the charts around the world, reaching the top fifteen places on the Billboard 200, the top five in the hip-hop chart and the gold record in two months, while the critics are divided and the album receives several sensational slashes.
It's a bloated project of 72 minutes and over 20 tracks of which a third are skits, it's not very original neither from the thematic nor from the musical point of view, nevertheless, it's far from being a bad record: the production is handled entirely by the Bomb Squad and Chuck D and the album doesn't credit guests. The MC is fit and carries the entire LP with energy and determination, making no mistakes and, at the same time, failing to build tracks that are as memorable, impressive and urgent as those featured in his past works: as noted by other reviewers, there's something wrong and it's not exactly clear what it is.
The Bomb Squad guys have never been world champions of mixing, this also helped the hard and immortal sound of the first Public Enemy albums, while appearing as a clear obstacle on this one: their production is more raw and heavier than usual, made up of funky and self-referential samples, tight metallic and skeletal drums, and noisy, minimal, bouncing boom baps. Chuck D still juggles worthily in the midst of this chaos, aided by Flavor Flav, but the album fails to stay at the same too-high level as its predecessors.
Rating: 7/10.
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