Today’s
selection is one of the best groups of the aptly named “golden era” of rap. My
guess is this era is somewhere between 1988 and 1993. The group I’m talking
about is surely one of the most influential of this era, Public Enemy. Musically,
they defined the era of the politically-conscious, pro-black, responsible Hip
Hop music, but what propelled the lyrical content was the style of production
courtesy of The Bomb Squad, made up of the Shocklee brothers, Hank and Keith.
They seemed to effortlessly blend differing genres of source material over a
hard SP-1200 beat that complimented Chuck’s rapid-fire flow and the comical
style of Flavor Flav. This song is “Night of the Living Baseheads,” which
taught me about what crack cocaine was and why my mom’s car kept getting broken into.
So, even though the car radio in was stolen by baseheads, I always managed to
find a way rock this song. Peace.
