After the late 60s, soul and rhythm’n’blues music had lost their significance for the black population’s struggle. Thanks to the most radical lyrics in hip hop, Public Enemy filled this gap. Chuck D and his buddies surely recorded some of the most important albums in the history of hip hop. For almost 25 years now, no one ever got them away from their microphones! On 11th November, PUBLIC ENEMY will teach the Rockhal Club a lesson you’re not going to forget. 

Although his career was limited to giving his father a hand in delivering furniture, Chuck D worked on his style in his basement, together with Flavor Flav. They associated social and political criticism and brought it across with slapping rhythms. When “Check Out the Radio” and its b-side “Lies” were released, Public Enemy’s future label mates Run D.M.C. and Beastie Boys took notice of them. With the help of a certain Andre (also known as “Doctor Dre”), Chuck D sent a demo tape called “Public Enemy #1” (like James Brown’s black power song) to producer Rick Rubin, who immediately signed Public Enemy on his promising new label: Def Jam…

“Yo! Bum Rush the Show” was released in early 1987, and all about this new album was revolutionary: the politically charged and omnipresent content, the musical style with its various influences, and the incredible power the songs developed on stage and on the record. After this late recognition by the media, the Shocklee brothers and Eric “Vietnam” Sadler started their engines once again and created the most beautiful and unlikely sounds. The result: in June 1988, one of the most important hip hop records ever was released: “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”.

In 1990, Public Enemy reached the top when they delivered their third album “Fear of a Black Planet”, which contained the group’s most famous songs (“Fight the Power”). But the 90s were also the decade when the “veterans” slowly started to decline: the fans turned to gangsta rappers, such as Snoop Dogg, 2Pac or Notorious B.I.G. Today, playing their part until the end, the “word warriors” preserve their integrity by regularly releasing records which are just as efficient and demanding as ever…

On 11th November, the Rockhal’s Club will host a legend and one of the references of contemporary music: PUBLIC ENEMY, for the first time in Luxembourg!