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Released: March 20, 1990

Rating: 4.542 (average of 9 ratings)

Genre: rap

Quotable: “This is the best hip-hop has ever had to offer.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Album Tracks:

  1. Contract on the World Love Jam
  2. Brothers Gonna Work It Out
  3. 911 Is a Joke
  4. Incident at 66.6 FM
  5. Welcome to the Terrordome
  6. Meet the G That Killed Me
  7. Pollywanacraka
  8. Anti-Nigger Machine
  9. Burn Hollywood Burn
  10. Power to the People
  11. Who Stole the Soul?
  12. Fear of a Black Planet
  13. Revolutionary Generation
  14. Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya Man
  15. Reggie Jax
  16. Leave This Off Your Fuckin’ Charts
  17. B Side Wins Again
  18. War at 33 1/3
  19. Final Count of the Collision Between Us and the Damned
  20. Fight the Power

Total Running Time: 57:52

Sales (in millions):

sales in U.S. only 1.0
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 1.0

Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 10
peak on U.K. album chart 4

Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Fight the Power (7/8/89) #29 UK, #20 RB
  • Welcome to the Terrordome (1/20/90) #18 UK, #15 RB
  • 911 Is a Joke (4/14/90) #41 UK, #15 RB
  • Brothers Gonna Work It Out (7/7/90) #46 UK, #20 RB
  • Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya Man (10/90) #53 UK

Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more. Spin Magazine’s 100 Greatest Albums

Fear of a Black Planet
Public Enemy
Review:
“At the time of its release…nearly all of the attention spent on Public Enemy’s third album, Fear of a Black Planet, was concentrated on the dying controversy over Professor Griff’s anti-Semitic statements of 1989, and how leader Chuck D bungled the public relations regarding his dismissal. References to the controversy are scattered throughout the album – and it fueled the incendiary lead single, Welcome to the Terrordome – but years later, after the furor has died down, what remains is a remarkable piece of modern art, a record that ushered in the ‘90s in a hail of multi-culturalism and kaleidoscopic confusion.” STE

“It also easily stands as the Bomb Squad’s finest musical moment. Where Millions was all about aggression – layered aggression, but aggression nonetheless – Fear of a Black Planet encompasses everything, touching on seductive grooves, relentless beats, hard funk, and dub reggae without blinking an eye.” STE

“All the more impressive is that this is one of the records made during the golden age of sampling, before legal limits were set on sampling, so this is a wild, endlessly layered record filled with familiar sounds you can’t place; it’s nearly as heady as the Beastie Boys’ magnum opus Paul’s Boutique in how it pulls from anonymous and familiar sources to create something totally original and modern.” STE

“While the Bomb Squad was casting a wider net, Chuck D’s writing was tighter than ever, with each track tackling a specific topic (apart from the aforementioned ‘Welcome to the Terrordome,’ whose careening rhymes and paranoid confusion are all the more effective when surrounded by such detailed arguments), a sentiment that spills over to Flavor Flav, who delivers the pungent black humor of 911 Is a Joke, perhaps the best-known song here.” STE

“Chuck gets himself into trouble here and there – most notoriously on Meet the G That Killed Me, where he skirts with anti-homophobia – but by and large, he’s never been so eloquent, angry, or persuasive as he is here. This isn’t as revolutionary or as potent as Millions, but it holds together better, and as a piece of music, this is the best hip-hop has ever had to offer.” STE

Review Source(s):

Last updated March 20, 2010.