It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (studio album) by Public Enemy

"It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" by Public Enemy is quite an impactful listen. As someone who's just getting into hip-hop, I found its intense energy and politically charged lyrics quite striking. The production is dense and layered, creating a sound that's both challenging and engaging.

Important album in the history of hip hop, at its best it is raw but original beats and almost punk delivery, that with this lyrics creates atmosphere of a real riot. Unfortunately it's not the most consistent record and between the good stuff there are some interludes that ruin flow of the album a bit. Overall it's an enjoyable listen with vibe unique for its time.

This sounds very dated today and the music on here while it might be impressive for the time just doesn't hold up to this day. This leads to a lot of moments that make you tense up a bit as they are so outdated and old fashioned. I also am not a huge fan of the delivery of Flavor Flav and I think he might be a big influence on what makes it such a tough listen. Despite this, the lyrical content is phenomenal and the themes they tackle are important and deserve to be listened to. Chuck D is the leader of this and he really carries this record for me. Overall, this is a record that you have to listen to for its lyrics and significance in music but its lack of musical quality has become evident over time in my opinion.

It’s a testament to how much rap has grown that this groundbreaking album no longer holds up in some respects. One of the best early examples of how to use two very contrasting voices and styles against one another.

Chuck D’s stuff would probably still work today. Flavor Flav (except when vocalizing in contrast to D)…not so much.

Their breakthrough top 10 album in the UK. The best 3 tracks are their top 40 hits, "Rebel Without A Pause"(37), "Bring The Noise"(32) and the iconic "Don't Believe The Hype"(18) which never left my turntable for about a year after release. One of the all time greatest rap albums in history.

From Jboy56 02/21/2022 07:44

Yeah, as good as it gets.

From teague 09/08/2021 15:50

A really important rap album, one of the first to be outwardly political AND angry.

From VictorVale 04/03/2021 18:51

Documento histórico, muito mais que um álbum!

Genre-defining album, Hip-hop wouldn't be the same without it.

From Larcx13 12/07/2020 12:02

Lyrically this album is amazing. I also know that a lot of work had to be put in those beats, that being said, I have a lot of trouble with some of the sounds. The lyrics make up for it so its still an amazing listen, but i always prefer to go back to EPMD in 88. I rather listen to this record on vinyl and concentrate on Chuck Ds message.