review: Public Enemy - Rebirth of a Nation

PE returns with Rebirth of a Nation, a self referential tribute to their seminal rap record, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Today the only thing holding PE back is their new producer Paris. Terminator X is back, however Hank Shocklee’s “Wall of Sound” is not. Chuck still has his revolutionary fury, refusing to be silenced by the din of the shufflin’ bucks that call themselves rappers these days. Yet, without the crushing beats from the old stuff, the music just doesn’t have that same impact. Flava Flav takes time out from his self-promotional jaunts on TV/decent into madness to play the jester role once again, even he fails to elicit a chuckle. His personality is so big however, anything he raps over makes ya smile. “Go to Jones Beach/Get on the back of a shark,” he says in “They Call Me Flava.” Huh? PE has the same old enemies, the CIA, bringing in drugs to the black community, complacency, wack rappers, and a Republican President. The new villain is Western beauty standards (“Plastic Nation”). I suppose when old artists make a comeback, you want them to try something new, however this record had me wishing for something old.