It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Public Enemy are one of the most unique groups in all of music. It has a lot to do with the writing and vocal performances from both Chuck D and Flavor Flav, but another aspect is the revolutionary use of samples by The Bomb Squad to create soundscapes that could not be replicated through instrumentation. There are a few albums that I've seen praised for their library of sample credits. The big three I've seen in Rap and Hiphop are Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys, 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul, and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy. One of my favorite aspects to this genre of music is the ability to take time and read about the different ways samples were manipulated to create songs. On these albums, there could be entire books written with each chapter dedicated to a song. I'm gonna take the time to write about the production found on Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Cold Lampin With Flavor

This song comes after the explosive start of Bring the Noise and Don't Believe the Hype. I never knew about the story behind the sample that starts the song, I thought it might have been from a movie or a TV show. It seems like in the middle of playing Public Enemy's song Public Enemy No. 1 on the radio, the DJ cut it off and said the rapping was a little weak. YouTube comments even went as far to say that this might've been one of the first times Public Enemy was on the radio, I guess timeline wise this adds up but I don't know how accurate this is. Either way, to think of Chuck D hearing his music on the radio, only to have it get cut off midway, and use that as inspiration to write one of the most iconic albums is beyond inspiring.

Getting to the actual music, this song is built around a sample of Funk It Up (David's Song) by Sweet. What I find fascinating about the use of the sample, is the way they chopped the last note off to fit their loop. Whosampled.com says the drums are a sample of Jungle Fever by The Chakachas. I don't think they looped it but rather took the sounds used and created their own beat. I notice the rhythms in the hi hat, and the use of two different open hi hats to create a unique bounce. I love the way the song stops for a second to build up the hit of the sub bass at 0:31, the piano sample is perfect in melody and rhythm and you can hear a horn hit lead into the next bar. During the verse there is the iconic high pitched noise used as a riff. You hear something like this on a few other songs off of the album, like on Don't Believe the Hype and Rebel Without a Pause. On Don't Believe the Hype, the sample is a clip of a horn from the song Escape-Ism by James Brown. On Rebel Without a Cause, it's a sample of the intro to The Grunt by The J.B.'s. I'm not sure what the sample is here, but I think it's cool how it fits in melodically. One aspect to this album that I love is the way that samples repeat. You can hear this on the hook of this song, with the way the different vocal samples are chopped. I really love the way the song breaks at 1:09, I get this part stuck in my head.

Night of the Living Baseheads

This song is built around an addicting loop of the horn from The Grunt by The J.B.'s, this song was sampled many times by Public Enemy on this album. Another iconic use of the song is Protect Ya Neck by Wu-Tang Clan. Night of The Living Baseheads loops a small melodic part built around a guitar and a horn. I love the way the guitar fits in rhythmically, and at the start of each loop you can hear another horn sample. The kick drum on this song stands out to me, it has a metal like rhythm to it, you can really hear it during the hook or more specifically at 0:53, but it's all throughout the song. During the hook, you can hear scratching using the "Bass!!" line from Bring The Noise. At 1:04 there is a unique transition to the next verse, using a couple different samples, I recognize the clap from Run-DMC's Sucker MC's (Krush Groove 1). At 1:49 there is a different transition to a break in the song that uses more from Bring The Noise, and then a third transition to get into the next verse. When I wrote about the last art of sampling, stuff like this is exactly what I was talking about. Even in the next verse at 2:14, the way they used the "First come, first serve basis" sample and got it to fit in rhythmically is mindblowing. I love the scratching at the end and the timing's of the, "Bass!!!" sample.

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

An amazing piano loop serves as the foundation of this song. It's a sample of Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic by Isaac Hayes. The rhythm is perfect, and is only made better by the compliment of the sub bass on the fourth beat of the bar. The drums are pushed by an 8th note rhythm while the snare lands on the third beat. The kick drum leads back to the start of the loop with the classic boom bap rhythm, and this allows the relationship between the kick and the sub bass to drive the song. The loop follows a 2 bar loop, with some sort of noise being played in the space after the first sub bass hit. It's more present in the sides than the mid, you can hear it exactly at 0:29 in the very first loop. I say it's some sort of noise because I can hear it playing an F note after I find it on the piano while humming, it's not just a percussion. As the hook begins, the drums are cut with only the snare to count while there is a vocal take that sounds like it's meant to be a phonecall. As the next verse begins at 1:31, you can hear the bassline cut through the mix. You can hear the bassline throughout the song, but it's much more pronounced here. The song follows this structure for the remainder, but it's such a strong loop.

I'll always love The Pharcyde's version of this song.

Those are some of my favorite songs from the legendary It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back. There are many other great songs on the album, these are just a few. It has so many unique moments through the extensive use of samples, and the combination of Chuck D and Flavor Flav is unstoppable.

Thank you reading!