Enemy Radio — Loud Is Not Enough

Chuck D, Torman Jahi and DJ Lord are Enemy Radio. The group plays at a Bernie Sanders rally, which Flavor Flav opposes by refusing to appear at the show, in his view, due to the misuse of Public Enemy's name on the show, where they should be introduced as Public Enemy Radio. For this reason, Chuck D fires him from the group, then claims that it was an April Fool anticipation of the group's new album; the hype-man himself claims he was not part of any joke, Chuck D remedies by explaining that Flavor Flav's dismissal was his hoax to show the malignancy of the media: it was therefore all a premeditated fiction to attract attention and promote the release of the new Public Enemy album. Yes, it's difficult to understand something for a normal person.

The record would be Chuck D's homage to Bob Marley, with these ten reggae-influenced songs. Where, would they be influenced by reggae? Where is it? The production is entirely made by C-Doc and is generic and simplistic, this dude tries to create some hardcore boom bap, but his beats are light and boring, when they aren't ridiculous or annoying. Chuck D is still capable of writing socio-conscious and political lyrics of complete sense and at least decent and his attempt is appreciated, but the rapper delivers with a slow and light syncopated style, struggles to go down hardcore, he's without energy and his hooks are almost all dully or lame.

Jahi delivers another half of the record in rapping and his style is easily forgotten. At the end of this half hour project, Sadat X (Brand Nubian) and Daddy-O (Stetsasonic) are called from the early nineties, in the role of the album's saviors, but both cannot do much in this half hour project: the first one finds himself over a ridiculous beat where the producer mistakes both the male sample and the jazzy bridge on the chorus (another wrong sample, with an annoying squeaky cornet in the background), while the second one is smooth on a light beat with a vibrant drum machine.

Chuck D has gone mad, and this is an[other] extravagant tombstone on the legacy of Public Enemy also known as «the best rap group ever». It's 2020, but he promotes this record as if he were thirty years ago, looking for the title in magazines and newspapers (which by the way, no longer exist in 2020), when, if you wanted to do something extravagant, you could have simply paid a couple of "social celebrities" to better promote and attract more attention to your record.

Rating: 5/10.