I'm down for PE

Public Enemy

Fight The Power OR F*** The Police

Bring The Noise/Noize OR Straight Outta Compton

Don't Believe The Hype OR Gangsta Gangsta

Welcome To The Terrordome OR 100 Miles Of Run

If THIS^ was about songs, it would be a tough call for me because both group have rap classics.

But if we're talking about albums, my vote would go to Public Enemy. Fear Of A Black Planet is still one of my all-time favorite rap albums.

Both were cuttin edge and in-your-face

funkpill said:

True.

Public Enemy by far, although they had to grow on me. They really were "in your face", but I liked the positive messages. They did spark lot's of confusion in me though, because as a young teen I had no idea that racism even existed.

However, when NWA came out, I was appalled. They were sooo vulgar. I was into squeaky clean acts like New Edition and Michael Jackson. I was into Prince too but for whatever reason his music never struck me as vulgar in any way...and it still doesn't (well, maybe a little dirty, but never vulgar or appalling).

But anyway, I still don't like NWA. They were so disrespectful to women.

godyssey said:

Yeah Public Enemy made me aware of a lot of things from five onwards. Crackheads (or baseheads), racism, police, etc. I learned most of that stuff from PE. That video for "Can't Truss It" was an eye-opener for my seven-year-old eyes because what I saw on there, they weren't really teaching a first-grader at the time, lol

Who do you think is more influential-PE or NWA?

scriptgirl said:

Both are influential in their own ways. I hate to think of who's more influential. Many would probably say NWA.

Timmy84 said:

Pretty much. I couldn't have been the only person who looked up JoAnne Chesimard?

Who is Joanne?

scriptgirl said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ata_Shakur

Timmy84 said:

OMG, that is horrible. You did not need to know about that stuff at seven years old. You should've been watching Disney movies.

Timmy84 said:

cosign

godyssey said:

Oh no I did need to know that. I was watching movies like the Long Road Home and Malcolm X and shit like that. And I was 7, 8. Yes I was watching Disney too but I watched that too. Age didn't mean a DAMN thing to me.

Timmy84 said:

Well that's cool! I just have this thing about protecting young children from problematic issues of adults and of the world in general. But if that worked for you, go on witcha bad self!
[Edited 9/30/09 22:16pm]

godyssey said:

Yeah to be honest I was never too freaked out by most things.

Timmy84 said:

loved NWA, but still... NO CONTEST

PE all the way!

scriptgirl said:

M.I.A.

nuff said.....

Public Enemy.

But I have a strong bias against NWA due to songs like "Black Korea"

Imago said:

I prefer Public Enemy too...but "Black Korea" was an Ice Cube solo track; it wasn't performed by N.W.A.

BlaqueKnight said:

When Ice Cube was in N.W.A., they had a political edge in their own right with the Straight Outta Compton album. But without him, they acted like pure trash with that Nigga4life album.

Public Enemy.

Eazy-E. was a better comic foil than Flavor Flav though.

BlaqueKnight said:

I agree.

Imago said:

I think we've had this conversation on another thread before. At the core of "Black Korea" is anger about experiences a lot of black males have after going to local Korean owned "mom-n'pop" stores in the hood and being treated like a second class citizen when they are in fact the ones keeping the store in business. Many black males have felt anger about this and many movies have addressed this issue from a comedic side but it remains a real issue in black & korean relationships in this country. What Cube communicated (in a very mean way, which is expected because he came from a "gangster" image) was that you can't move to a foreign country and still be xenophobic when you are the stranger in a sense. You have to have respect for patrons of your business (thats business 101) or you're going to have problems.
I don't think Cube hates Koreans - he just wrote an angry song about being treated poorly that is a common experience among black males. It wasn't written for anyone else but black males to relate to.
Cube's best works happened AFTER N.W.A. and without him, they were lost. He wrote all of the lyrics in the beginning.
Fuck The Police was political but told with a gangster edge thanks to Ice Cube. After Cube, all they had were songs like "She Swallowed it" and "One Less Bitch" - all gangster, no substance, no political edge - just garbage. They had gone full minstrel by that time and Cube was working with...Chuck D and the Bomb Squad. It was N.W.A. meets P.E.
[Edited 10/1/09 10:14am]

BlaqueKnight said:

Very well put.

NWA always turned me off especially with their views of women. I always had respect for PE, I even thought Flavor Flav was cool back then, but now I find him annoying. PE was a group that I was not afraid to listen to around my father or other adults because they had a MESSAGE that even they, older blacks, agreed with.