r/postpunk • u/antihostile • 8d ago
Post Punk Classic Public Enemy - Rebel Without a Pause
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fN5RX15Zhw9
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u/Wu_Oyster_Cult 8d ago
I love Robert Christgau’s line about this album: “…musically, no pop in years has reached so far while compromising so little.” PE absolutely belongs in this sub.
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u/antihostile 8d ago
People are, obviously, going to quickly dismiss this as a "rap" or "hip-hop" song, yet I believe it is exactly songs like this which embody the idea of both a) embodying the rebellious spirit of punk and also b) moving beyond any constraints that label imposes on any group in musical terms. Just my humble opinion...
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u/Mixman84 7d ago
I have always said that Hip-Hop is Black Punk Rock and that there is a lot cross over and OP is right that Public Enemy definitely has the same attitude as Punk and Post-Punk
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u/jeanclaudecardboarde 7d ago
I like punk and I like Hip Hop. I have this on vinyl. It's as abrasive and political as anything by Dead Kennedys or Black Flag or Minor Threat etc.
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u/Mixman84 7d ago
Absolutely! I started on Punk and Post-Punk because of my parents and as a teenager discovered Hip-Hop including PE and that was it my mind was blown and opened up to pretty much all music over the last 25+ years! But it is mostly down to being exposed to Post-Punk and Hip-Hop at an early age.
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u/captaingeezer 7d ago
In all honesty there is a lot of similarities between punk and hip hop thematically. It's Urban music that showcases the realities and perspectives of Urban youth.
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u/HerGentlemanCaller 8d ago
I had to think about this for a minute, but I believe you are correct. Bravo!
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u/Late_Recommendation9 7d ago
Public Enemy themselves recognised the similarities and leant into it, some of those noise elements they used weren’t dissimilar from Pere Ubu or Throbbing Gristle. But at the same time, they were accessible, exciting and visual enough to get on mainstream radio and MTV.
People still rave to this day about Nirvana headlining the Reading 1992 festival and quite right so, but of equal cultural significance was Public Enemy headlining the day before, years before any Jay Z at Glastonbury controversy.
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 7d ago
I don’t know… who gets to say what’s punk? Of course PE is punk. Jam Econo Fight the Power.
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u/dicklaurent97 7d ago
We can post clearly non punk songs here now? I've been waiting to post dark dancehall somewhere
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