It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy.
Last updated
Public Enemy’s second studio album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, came out on June 28, 1988, through Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. The group recorded it between 1987 and 1988 at three New York studios: Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios. Because crowds reacted strongly to their live performances, Public Enemy wanted the album’s tracks to be faster than those on their 1987 debut, Yo!
Bum Rush the Show, so the music would work well onstage. They also aimed to make a hip-hop record that matched the social weight of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On (1971). Working with their production crew, the Bomb Squad, the group built a dense, aggressive sound—drawing from free jazz, heavy funk, and musique concrète—to support lead rapper Chuck D, whose lyrics mixed sociopolitical commentary, revolutionary ideas, and a thick vocabulary.
Background
Public Enemy's 1987 debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show, while acclaimed by hip hop critics and aficionados, had gone ignored for the most part by the rock and R&B mainstream, selling only 300,000 copies. However, the group continued to tour and record tirelessly.
With this album, the group set out to make what they considered to be the hip hop equivalent to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. In order to ensure that their live shows would be as exciting as those they played in London and Philadelphia, the group decided that the music on Nation of Millions would have to be faster than that found on Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Years of saved-up ideas were compiled into one focused aural missile.
The album was recorded in 30 days for an estimated $25,000 in recording costs, due to extensive preproduction at their Long Island studio. The material was completed in six weeks. Rather than touring with the rest of the group, Eric 'Vietnam' Sadler and Hank Shocklee would stay in the studio and work on material for the album. When the group began planning the second album, the songs 'Bring the Noise', 'Don't Believe the Hype', and 'Rebel Without a Pause' had already been completed.
The latter track was recorded during the group's 1987 Def Jam tour, and the lyrics were written by Chuck D in one day. Instead of looping the break from James Brown's 'Funky Drummer', 'Rebel Without a Pause' featured a beat programmed by Hank Shocklee and Eric Sadler using a drum machine. Terminator X incorporated the transformer scratch towards its end. Hank Shocklee made the final call when songs were completed, and it was decided that the album should be exactly one hour long, thirty minutes on each side.
Track listing
Side Silver
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Countdown to Armageddon (Intro) | Carlton "Chuck D" Ridenhour, Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, Hank Shocklee | 1:40 |
| 2 | Bring the Noise | Ridenhour, Sadler, Shocklee | 3:46 |
| 3 | Don't Believe the Hype | Ridenhour, Sadler, Shocklee, William "Flavor Flav" Drayton | 5:19 |
| 4 | Cold Lampin' with Flavor | Sadler, Shocklee, Drayton | 4:17 |
| 5 | Terminator X to the Edge of Panic | Ridenhour, Norman "Terminator X" Rogers, Drayton | 4:31 |
| 6 | Mind Terrorist (Interlude) | Ridenhour, Sadler, Shocklee | 1:21 |
| 7 | Louder Than a Bomb | Ridenhour, Sadler, Shocklee | 3:37 |
| 8 | Caught, Can We Get a Witness? | Ridenhour, Sadler, Shocklee | 4:53 |
2014 deluxe edition bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bring the Noise (No Noise Version) | 3:46 |
| 2 | Bring the Noise (No Noise Instrumental) | 4:23 |
| 3 | Bring the Noise (No Noise A Cappella) | 1:31 |
| 4 | Rebel Without a Pause (Instrumental) | 4:23 |
| 5 | Night of the Living Baseheads (Anti-High Blood Pressure Encounter Mix) | 5:01 |
| 6 | Night of the Living Baseheads (Terminator X Meets DST and Chuck Chill Out Instrumental Mix) | 2:55 |
| 7 | The Edge of Panic | 3:00 |
| 8 | The Rhythm, the Rebel (A Capella) | 1:11 |
| 9 | Prophets of Rage (Power Version) | 3:20 |
| 10 | Caught, Can We Get a Witness? (Pre Black Steel Ballistic Felony Dub) | 5:05 |
| 11 | B-Side Wins Again (Original Version) | 3:49 |
| 12 | Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (Instrumental) | 1:17 |
| 13 | Fight the Power (Do the Right Thing Soundtrack Version) | 5:23 |
Track listing from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The working title for the album was Countdown to Armageddon.
- The album was originally intended to start with 'Show Em Whatcha Got' but Hank Shocklee flipped the sides just before mastering.
More in Iconic Songs & Albums
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced