Oldheads, WHAT was it like when 'Rebel without a Pause' dropped?

[Why-Fi]

yea not sure where you guys are from but in Philly and bmore, from my perspective, rebel without a pause was everywhere. swimming pools, cars, porches, walk around boomboxes, block parties. and for a long time

 

[Mastamimd]

Their first album went gold and I had it here in the south from a small ass city. They were definitely known after the first album. The only problem is that it was under promoted. And as chuck stated, it was supposed to be released in 86, but due to the success of the Beastie Boys, Def Jam pushed back the release to early 87. I personally didn't buy this cassette, my cousin gave it to me when he introduced me to them in 87. He let me borror the cassette(beige tape) and I listened to it so much, he allowed me to keep it. Then Nation of millions dropped, then Fear of a black planet. They never played them on mainstream radio that I heard. The first song that I remember females(they basically control music) loving was "911 is a joke". My female cousins knew the words to it, and it was on the radio when they'd actually play hip hop one hour a day or Friday and Saturdays. I personally hated that song, but it was nominated for a Soul Train award. When that controversy hit in 89 with Griff talking about the european jew, white folks trying to cancel PE actually made them even more popular along with the release of Do the right Thing.

I can remember hearing Rebel without a Pause for the first time. A friend of mine had the tape in his walkman in the library at middle school. Craig had the tape with me and Antonio sitting a table with him and he played it. I still remember where we were sitting at during that time. The memoires

Word for word

911 was the first song I recall my sister singing

 

[TEKBEATZ]

Amazing and it dropped when heavy metal was the most popular at that time

 

[Ed MOTHEREFFING G]

Interesting replies and conversation. I was too young to contribute, but I'll say as a kid, public enemy was what hip hop "sounded like" to me. Like, fight the power, rebel without a pause, and Black steel were HIP HOP, it is interesting to hear about push back and opinions from then.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

Rebel without a Pause saved PE they were done without that song (at least in the states UK loved them)

Mr. Magic dissed the shyt outta them let me post that classic radio version

The production was ahead of its time but Hip-Hop advanced so fast back then
Chuck came out kicking the freshest raps of 1982

"Get a job like your mother, I heard she fixes old dryers"


and sounded like a damn dinosaur by 1987

"No more music by the suckas"

Damn I hear Magic shyt on a couple brehs..Krs One, Kane

Apparently I think Marly Marl gave an interview..may have been Drink Champs when KRS and someone was in the studio and played some shyt for Magic and Magic was "THAT shyt TRASH THAT AIN'T REAL HIPHOP" something like that.

And regarding Kane I guess Magic shyt on KANE DUSTY afro he rocked before he got put on

 

[get these nets]

Mr. Magic dissed the shyt outta them let me post that classic radio version

PE sampled that line when they were in victory lap mode on album #2. It's at the start of Cold Lampin with Flav.

 

[get these nets]

Damn I hear Magic shyt on a couple brehs..Krs One, Kane

Apparently I think Marly Marl gave an interview..may have been Drink Champs when KRS and someone was in the studio and played some shyt for Magic and Magic was "THAT shyt TRASH THAT AIN'T REAL HIPHOP" something like that.

Krs spoke about it in the Beef DVD

"Garbage? MC Shan is garbage."

Kris was still throwing shots at Magic long after that BLS show was over. Cooked him in the original version of Outta Here.

 

[feelosofer]

That was the song that really turned people heads toward Public Enemy, no one really copped the 1st album even though it was sonically ahead of it's time, the music really appealled to an older audience above and beyond where hip hop was at that point, Rebel Without a Pause was a refinement of that sound and then at that point people started to pay attention to what they were saying their legend as an anti establishment group was cemented. Weirdly enough they were bigger in Europe at least at the onset because a lot of the fascist regimes were going down at that point.

 

[cheek100]

Loved it! I had a house speaker in my car so u can imagine

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

Krs spoke about it in the Beef DVD
Garbage? MC Shan is garbage.

Kris was still throwing shots at Magic long after that BLS show was over. Cooked him in the original version of Outta Here.

sounds to me like marley, shan, and Magic didn't know what the fukk talent was. KRS wasn't hot to them? Plus Marley and Shan said they were secretly clowning Rakim when he recorded "my melody". These mfers didn't recognize talent in front of them.

 

[bobbiewishbone]

I think legitimized the Bomb Squad's signature sound. We found out who Hank & Keith Shocklee were.

 

[BK360NATL]

In NYC circa 1986-1987, PE was not getting any mainstream radio play (Mr. Magic, Red Alert, Chuck Chillout). The college radio stations is where they got a lot of run. I recall hearing Public Enemy #1, My Uzi Weighs A Ton and Yo! Bumrush The Show on radio shows like The DNA - Hank Love Show and The Awesome Two on FM 105.9 from 2 am to 5 am. Every now and then, you'd hear it one of these songs in a car with bass around Brooklyn, but it definitely wasn't very widespread or popular, nor being played in any clubs.

When Rebel Without A Cause dropped on those college radio shows, it started a ground swell. It was a loosie, not on any album at the time, and hard to find. Those who found it or had the pause tapes, were blowing it up. "Radio, suckers never play me...." with that line, Chuck shamed mainstream hip hop DJs into at least listening if not playing it. The streets knew about it.

Night of The Living Baseheads and the video, then the Fight The Power video from the Do The Right Thing movie made them the PE that everyone knows now.

They led the way with people taking off the big gold chains and rocking clocks and Afrocentric pendants. Everyone had to come correct with some form of conscious lyrics as well. They helped push that positive mindset in hip hop at the time. When the Professor Griff stuff happened, some folks pounced and watered down that movement, leading to the push of an entirely different and destructive mindset in hip hop that remains until today.

 

[ILLMMORTAL]

I can’t say what was happening on the East Coast or anywhere else when PE’s first album dropped..I wasn’t there,but on the Gulf Coast…nikkaz bought that album and was banging the shyt out of it! Public Enemy No.1,My Uzi Weighs A Ton and M.P.E. got heavy rotation on the mix shows down here!
I remember PE was getting ready to drop..[It Takes A Nation] and Down here Don’t Believe The Hype was the first single off that album to be played on radio stations! They played that shyt for bout a month and a half,then one night on one of the mix shows in Houston and I can’t remember which one,but the DJ stop the mix and said we have a PE exclusive….The album wasn’t out yet because I remember my homeboy getting the 12” to Rebel not too long after they first played it,but anyway,Me and my homeboys was recording making tapes like we always did on Saturday night! I had the Marantz Sound System with the two tall speaker boxes with two 12’’s in each speaker box….Me and the homies anticipating!

They put the record on starting from the intro…Brothers and Sisters …..Brothers and Sisters…I don’t know what this world is coming to….Annh,Annh,Annh..Yes the Rhythm,the Rebel…nikka,when that shyt dropped…nikkaz was in that bytch likeWe lost our Got Damn minds! nikkaz was like GottttttttDamn!……. shyt gave me chills cause it hit so hard and sounded so good and let me tell you,Rebel Without A Pause became PE’s signature sound,nothing out sounded like it and nothing like it had been made! The Bomb Squad had arrived off of that song and Muthafukkaz knew it and everybody took notice! The only producer that could’ve fukked with them nikkaz on them beats..back then..was Dre,and he was definitely listening because real HipHop heads know and will tell you that Dre took some pages from them nikkaz cook book of recipes! Dre was definitely influenced by them nikkaz..just go listen to Straight Outta Compton! fukk Tha Police and Express Yourself (Remix)PE influenced!
There’s a thread on the coli about the top 10 greatest HipHop tracks ever made or something to that effect…..Rebel Without A Pause is a top 5 greatest HipHop track ever made! You’ll be hard pressed to find a track harder than that shyt! (Honorable Mention) NWA’s [Approach To Danger]….but Rebel Without A Pause was a game changer….From then on producers had to come with it. You see Dre stepped his shyt up on efil4zaggiN and we know the production on that shyt is incredible!
I can’t say enough about Rebel Without A Pause except that it’s my favorite song by PE,I bang it to this day and I still get goosebumps when I hear it,because I remember the emotions that me my homeboys had when we first heard it and it was a great time for HipHop! Also we wanted to know who was making these tracks so we would read the back of the album covers to see what rappers and rap groups were down with each other and also check the credits n shyt! This Was and Is the ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOLDEN ERA OF HIPHOP…..nikkaZ!

 

[get these nets]

When that controversy hit in 89 with Griff talking about the european jew, white folks trying to cancel PE actually made them even more popular along with the release of Do the right Thing.

This part is relevant in 2022.

They put the full court press on Public Enemy after Griff's (off the record ) comments to a Black journalist were printed in an article.
Chuck paused all their press/shows etc and briefly disbanded the group. Briefly had Griff fall back and leave.

It was close to being a wrap for them because of the backlash.

The ONLY artist who publicly stood with them was Ice T
cued


Anyway, after going on the apology tour, Chuck said fukk that.....and brought Griff back......made it a point to show a shot of just him in the FTP video AND feature him on the backcover of the next album....and released the diss record of all diss records, topped a classic album with another classic and cement Public Enemy's place in history.

 

[Majestyx]

i wasnt old enough. i just wanted to add that when i finally discovered PE late 90's.. i was like "oh shyt, these mufukas ill AF" Chuck D shytting on anything that was wak and beats hit hard, smack you all up in the face. pure hip hop shyt.

i dug deep into PE because of company flow