Public Enemy
Album: Power to the people and the beats
Release date: Aug 2, 2005
Label: Def Jam

In the late 80s, the revolution wasn’t televised, it was on record— and those records were made by Public Enemy. When it comes to social and political consciousness, Public Enemy were the most influential and controversial rap group of the time—and those recordings remain rap music’s most influential ever made. Now the most extensive gathering of its revolutionary best has been compiled on POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND THE BEATS: Public Enemy’s Greatest Hits (Def Jam/UMe), released August 2, 2005.

Produced in association with Chuck D, leader and co-founder of Public Enemy, POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND THE BEATS: Public Enemy’s Greatest Hits features 18 selections, each digitally remastered, ranging from 1987’s "Public Enemy No. 1" to 1998’s "He Got Game." Spanning each of the group’s first six albums and with 11 of its 12 rap charters (all six R&B Top 40s), and an insightful essay by Harry Allen, POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND THE BEATS: Public Enemy’s Greatest Hits is the definitive retrospective of Public Enemy’s original groundbreaking recordings.

At the close of 1999, The New York Times named Public Enemy’s music to their list of the “25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century” and in Spring 2005 The US Library of Congress included Fear of a Black Planet in a list of 50 recordings worthy of preserving in the National Recording Registry. Most recently, Spin magazine chose two PE albums for their “100 Greatest Albums (1985-2005)” list, with It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back coming in at #2 (sandwiched between Radiohead and Nirvana) and Fear of a Black Planet at #21.

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