Before Flavor Flav was searching for love on VH1’s hit show Flavor of Love, and Chuck D was the voice of Forth Right MC on GTA San Andreas’ fictitious radio station Playback FM, they were part of one of the most influential, rap groups of all time known as Public Enemy.
According to COS, to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary, Def Jam will be releasing deluxe editions of 1988’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and 1990’s Fear of a Black Planet, two of their classic albums. As a bonus, both will accompanied by discs containing bonus material and essays written by Questlove of The Roots, Wax Poetics’ Andre Torres and a DVD of the 1989 VHS release of Fight the Power…Live!.
It Takes a Nation will feature 13 rare mixes, including the original “No Noise” version of “Bring the Noise”, the instrumental versions of “Rebel Without A Pause” and “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”, along with the version of “Fight the Power” that appeared on Spike Lee’s iconic 1989 film, Do the Right Thing.
Instead of mixes and essays, the deluxe version of Fear of a Black Planet will consist of the original LP plus 18 bonus tracks including several instrumental takes of “911 Is a Joke”, Power to the People”, “Revolutionary Generation”, three remixes of “Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man!”, and a nearly 10 minute version of “Enemy Assault Vehicle Mixx (Medley)”.
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is scheduled for release on November 24th, while Fear of a Black Planet has a release date of December 8th.
It Takes A Nation was certified Platinum and in 2003 was ranked 48 on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, which was the highest ranking of all hip hop albums, while Fear of a Black Planet was ranked 300, also reaching Platinum status.
In 2013, Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making them only the fourth hip hop act to make it behind such icons as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, and The Beastie Boys.
Known as one of the most controversial hip hop groups, Public Enemy released 14 albums from 1987 to 2012, nominated for five Grammys and three American Music Awards, never winning a single one.
Below is a full track listing of both deluxe editions of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet along with the videos for “I Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man” and “Fight The Power”.
It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Tracklist:
DISC 1 (The Album)
01. Countdown To Armageddon
02. Bring The Noise
03. Don’t Believe The Hype
04. Cold Lampin’ With Flavor
05. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic
06. Mind Terrorist
07. Louder Than A Bomb
08. Caught, Can We Get A Witness?
09. Show ‘Em Whatcha Got
10. She Watch Channel Zero?!
11. Night Of The Living Baseheads
12. Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos
13. Security Of The First World
14. Rebel Without A Pause
15. Prophets Of Rage
16. Party For Your Right To Fight
DISC 2 (Bonus Tracks)
01. Bring The Noise (No Noise Version)
02. Bring The Noise (No Noise Instrumental)
03. Bring The Noise (No Noise A Cappella)
04. Rebel Without A Pause (Instrumental)
05. Night Of The Living Baseheads (Anti-High Blood Pressure Encounter Mix)
06. Night Of The Living Baseheads (Terminator X Meets DST And Chuck Chill Out Instrumental Mix)
07. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic (No Need To Panic Radio Version)
08. The Edge Of Panic
09. The Rhythm, The Rebel (A Capella)
10. Prophets Of Rage (Power Version)
11. Caught, Can We Get A Witness? (Pre Black Steel Ballistic Felony Dub)
12. B-Side Wins Again (Original Version)
13. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos (Instrumental)
14. Fight The Power (Soundtrack Version)
DISC 3 (Fight The Power… Live DVD)
01. Countdown to Armageddon
02. Public Enemy Number One
03. Miuzi Weighs A Ton
04. Night Of The Living Baseheads (Live)
05. Fight The Power
06. Bring The Noise
07. Don’t Believe The Hype
08. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
09. Rebel Without A Pause
10. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic
11. Night Of The Living Baseheads (Video)
12. Prophets Of Rage
Fear of a Black Planet Tracklist:
DISC 1 (The Album)
01. Contract On The World Love Jam (Instrumental)
02. Brothers Gonna Work It Out
03. 911 Is A Joke
04. Incident At 66.6 FM [Instrumental]
05. Welcome To The Terrordome
06. Meet the G That Killed Me
07. Pollywanacraka
08. Anti-Nigger Machine
09. Burn Hollywood Burn (featuring Ice Cube)
10. Power To The People
11. Who Stole The Soul?
12. Fear Of A Black Planet
13. Revolutionary Generation
14. Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man!
15. Reggie Jax
16. Leave This Off Your Fu*kin Charts (Instrumental)
17. B Side Wins Again
18. War At 33 1/3
19. Final Count Of The Collision Between Us And The Damned (Instrumental)
20. Fight The Power
DISC 2 (Bonus Tracks)
01. Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Remix)
02. Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Dub)
03. Flavor Flav
04. Terrorbeat
05. Welcome To The Terrordome (Terrormental)
06. Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man (Full Rub Mix)
07. Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man (U.K. 12″ Powermix)
08. Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man (Dub Mixx)
09. Burn Hollywood Burn (Extended Censored Fried To The Radio Version)
10. Anti-Nigger Machine (Uncensored Extended)
11. 911 Is A Joke (Instrumental)
12. Power To The People (Instrumental)
13. Revolutionary Generation (Instrumental)
14. War At 33 1/3 (Instrumental)
15. Fight The Power (Soundtrack Version)
16. Fight The Power (Powersax)
17. Fight The Power (Flavor Flav Meets Spike Lee)
18. The Enemy Assault Vehicle Mixx (Medley)