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''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group
Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
, released on February 10, 1987. It was recorded at Spectrum City Studios in
Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, o ...
, and became one of the fastest-selling hip hop records, but was controversial among radio stations and critics, in part due to lead rapper
Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...
's black nationalist politics. Despite this, the album has since been regarded as one of hip hop's greatest and most influential records.


Musical style

''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' debuts
The Bomb Squad The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. The ...
's
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of ...
-heavy production style, which is prominent on the group's later work. Joe Brown of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' described the album's music as "a more serious brand of
inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...
aggression", in comparison to ''
Licensed to Ill ''Licensed to Ill'' is the debut studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records, and became the first rap LP to top the ''Billboard'' album chart. It is one of Columbia ...
'' (1986) by Def Jam label-mates the
Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...
. On its musical style, Brown wrote "Public Enemy's mean and minimalist rap is marked by an absolute absence of melody – the scary sound is just a throbbing pulse, hard drums and a designed-to-irritate electronic whine, like a dentist's drill or a persistent mosquito". The album's sound is accented by the scratching of DJ Terminator X. ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' writer Daniel Brogan described Public Enemy's style on the album as "raw and confrontational", writing that the group "doesn't aim to – or have a chance at – crossing over".


Title and packaging

According to music journalist Jeff Chang, Public Enemy embodied the "
bumrush ''BumRush'' is a 2011 Canadian film directed by Michel Jetté. ''BumRush'' is an independent film that was shot in Montreal in French and English and features Emmanuel Auger in the lead role of L'Kid and Bad News Brown in the role of gang leader L ...
aesthetic" of underground black radicalism and used their debut album's cover to illustrate a resurgence in the spirit of militancy. The cover features the group in a poorly lit basement, "readying themselves to bring black militancy back into the high noon of the
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
day", as Chang described and compared to the 1987
Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip hop group originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the release of BDP's debut album, '' Criminal Minde ...
album '' Criminal Minded'' that followed.
Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...
is shown dressed in white Islamic clothing, Professor Griff is on the far right wearing a red beret, and Flavor Flav has his hand reaching out over a turntable, which Chang interpreted as him blessing the vinyl record. A second black hand is shown reaching at the play button to "begin the revolution", in Chang's words. A line of repeated text is printed at the bottom of the photo, described by Chang as a punchline, and reading: "THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBLE . . . THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBLE . . . THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBLE . . ." The cover marked the first appearance of Public Enemy's logo, a silhouette of a black man in a rifle's crosshairs.


Release and promotion

''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' was released on February 10, 1987, by
Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...
and
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
. It was promoted with the release of two singles that year: "Public Enemy No. 1" in March and "
You're Gonna Get Yours "You're Gonna Get Yours" (sometimes subtitled "My 98 Oldsmobile") is a 1987 single by hip hop group Public Enemy from their debut album ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' (1987). Chuck D references the Oldsmobile 98 automobile in the song's lyrics. It pe ...
" in May.Strong (2004), p. 1226. The album was largely ignored by radio programmers, including most African-American radio stations. On
record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include ...
s, it reached the 125th position of the ''Billboard'' Top LPs and number 28 on the Top Black Albums in the United States. Billboard Albums: ''Revolverlution'' Allmusic. Retrieved on January 8, 2010.
Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''. By the following year, it had sold more than 300,000 copies in the US, and 400,000 by 1989. On October 3, 1994, the album was certified
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
, indicating 500,000 units moved.


Critical reception

According to
Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the '' Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wo ...
in 1988, ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' was widely acclaimed by critics. However, fellow music journalist Christopher R. Weingarten later recalled American critics were originally lukewarm to the album. In Chang's estimation, white journalists in particular strongly criticized Chuck D's pro- black nationalist sentiments. In a review published in ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' under the title "Noise Annoys", John Leland avoided the group's politics entirely and simply found Chuck D boring, instead preferring the more entertaining rhymes of Flavor Flav. Fellow ''Village Voice'' critic
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
said the group has "literary chops—amid puns more
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
than
Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...
, their 'Megablast' is cutting anticrack narrative-propaganda--and they make something personal of rap's ranking minimalist groove." He found them lacking in levity, however, and complained that "Chuck D takes the bully-boy orotundity of his school of rap elocution into a realm of vocal self-involvement worthy of
Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
,
Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...
, or the preacher at a
Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
funeral." Pareles was more enthusiastic in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', hailing ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' as rap's "grittiest" full-length record. While still finding Public Enemy plagued by the "adolescent macho" he deemed prevalent in the genre, he said its songs are "far more convincing - and unsettling - when huckD takes on money and power", and concluded: "At a time when most rappers typecast themselves as comedy acts or party bands, Public Enemy's best moments promise something far more dangerous and subversive: realism." According to Chang, the album fared better among critics in the United Kingdom, where music publications ranked it as one of the year's best records. In '' NME'' magazine's critics poll, it was named the best album of 1987. The single "You're Gonna Get Yours" was also listed at number 25 on their list of Top 50 tracks of the year. It was also voted the 14th best album of the year in ''The Village Voice''s Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide. In subsequent years, ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' has been considered a classic and one of hip hop's most influential records. In 1998, it was selected as one of ''
The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
''s 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' ranked it number 497 on a list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, although the album was removed in the 2012 version of the list.


Track listing


Personnel

*
Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...
– vocals, co-producer * Flavor Flav – vocals * Terminator X – lead scratch * Hank Shocklee – co-producer, mixing, drum programming, minimal synth programming *
Eric Sadler The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. Th ...
– co-producer, mixing, drum programming, minimal synth programming * Stephen Linsley – bass, recording & mixing * Bill Stephney – bass, guitars, co-producer, mixing *
Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
– guitars * Johnny "Juice" Rosado – rhythm scratch *
Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...
– executive producer, mixing * Glen E. Friedman – photography * Steve Ett – mixing


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


See also

*
Album era The album era was a period in English-language popular music from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s in which the album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption. It was primarily driven by three successive music recording ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


''Yo! Bum Rush the Show''
at
Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, decade ...
(list of accolades) * {{Authority control Public Enemy (band) albums 1987 debut albums Def Jam Recordings albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Rick Rubin