Public Enemy

Returning to Def Jam after more than two decades, Public Enemy is back and louder than ever! What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down is the revitalized social justice anthem of 2020 and the body of work is a call to action, inciting justice for the black community. The album features artists such as DJ Premier, Mike D, Ice-T, PMD, Run DMC, and Jahi.

With Yo! Bum Rush the Show, Public Enemy introduce a new kind of bravado that's not just directed at other players and sucker MCs but is an out-and-out middle-finger challenge to the whole world, as these serious brothers roll right over you in a slow-moving convoy of 98 Oldsmobiles ("You're Gonna Get Yours"). PE crowd these tracks with disparate sounds that move your butt while they buzz from every channel. Despite their serious posturing, you'll be grateful for the sloppy bass line in "Timebomb" and Terminator X's brilliant tone experiment, "Public Enemy No. 1." Yo! isn't PE's masterpiece, but it's a truly standout album, a warning shot for the full-scale assault they would later initiate on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.