Public Enemy #1

Ironically, t’was a white boy who first introduced me to the magic of Public Enemy. Can’t even front about that, nor would I want to.
I met my buddy Kevin in the 9th grade Home Economics class we both mistakenly took, thinking we’d be sopping up easy A’s alongside home-made biscuits & gravy.
Kevin rocked his “Jew ‘Fro”, shell toe Adidas, & surly attitude proudly.
One day during Mrs. Trimble’s lipstick stained teeth lecture about the proper way to measure flour, he slid a non-descript cassette tape across the inexplicably sticky table.
Nonchalant as a mo’fo.
“Have a listen. I think you’ll like it”

I’ll just say this now. Some of the best music EVER, some of the music I adore most in life, came to me this same way.
Damn white boys & their mix-tapes, cds, & play lists.

“Public Enemy Number One” was the first song on the tape.
It might as well have been the only song on the tape.
And all I remember is that Chuck D’s voice shook me free from my small town Mizzourah world and I was never the same.
Too much? Nope.
For a girl who begged only for Karen White, Guy, & yes, Scritti Politti tapes for Xmas that year, Public Enemy was revolutionary; they spoke seductively to the budding wanna be Black revolutionary inside of me.

Never mind a Flava Flav then still untainted by the later buffoonery of “Flava of Love”. Back then he was like your crazy yet surprisingly erudite cousin.

But Chuck D was the star, of course.

And his voice was eerily familiar too. Like your Dad’s guttural growl when you left the lights on in rooms already vacated. Or the roar elicited when you accidentally moved in front of the tv for just a split second, causing him to miss Magic’s no look pass to Worthy with 12 seconds on the clock.

Chuck boomed like that. Bellowed like that.

Unlike all these wuzzy voices in hip hop today. (Sorry Kendrick, Drake, and all the others too untalented to be mentioned by name. Would it kill you to put some base in your voices?!)
Yes, I know I sound old now. But am I lyin?

Even more importantly, P.E had that undeniable undercurrent of care for me, us.

Chuck wanted the best for us & guided us in that direction kicking & screaming, by any means necessary.

Combined with stellar production of Bomb Squad, I was instantly hooked. Still am.
Hell, I’m getting geeked as I write this.
Gonna have to go listen to “Welcome to the Terrordome” to calm down, ha.

At any rate, I think the last P.E t-shirt I saw was crumpled up on a bargain table at Urban Outfitters.
Blasphemy? Nah. Make that money.

But my iterations have a bit more soul, yes?

The first one, modeled by the scrumptious Miz Lauron circa probably 2009, was reclaimed from a promo tee issued by Spin Magazine back in the day.

The second is Size 2X, available now in the shop.

All this to say thank you to some of the best who ever did it.

Do you have a favorite P.E song? Hit me.