Public Enemy – State of the Union (STFU)

Public Enemy with a new song. Their latest counterattack on the state of the union .

Show ’em whatcha got.

Public Enemy blasts Trump on the new song , State of the Union. I’ve been following P.E’s career since It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back. That LP is the benchmark I use for all hiphop (along with 5 or so others but P.E. is at the top) This wiki article is a good quick read on where Public Enemy went from small hip hop group to an influential force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Nation_of_Millions_to_Hold_Us_Back

S.O.T.U. aka State of the Union overall is a tight song. Chuck D’s lyrics have not faltered. The call and response between Flavor Flav and Chuck gets repetitive but I think it serves a purpose to give those who are frustrated power regarding how they feel.

Let’s face it – we are at a more critical time than ever. Public Enemy are fighting for African American / Black rights from their start in Roosevelt, Long Island.

S.O.T.U opens with soulful female vocals in the style of backup singing you hear on classic R and B . The vocals loop and give you more music than you may have in the one trick pony rappers that literally just have tired rhymes over one single non changing beat. There is a little scratching which , for me, could be a missing ingredient on other hip hop tracks that I hear when I decide to crawl out from under my rock . The track is produced by DJ Premier formerly of the late great Guru (Gangstarr). Premier is on another level and consistently represents the musicality of hip hop. His background on S.O.T.U. reminds me of a 36 Chambers Wu Tang sample.

I don’t want to talk about politics cause it makes my head hurt, and some dick will always want to debate or fuck with you regardless of what you believe and I don’t think my opinion counts for shit. S.O.T.U. pulls no punches and calls out Trump. P.E. is simply reacting to a world that needs to change. Anyone who doesn’t agree? Well – you are probably an ignorant luddite regardless of your political views.

Musically speaking the track is good maybe very good, the message is probably the utmost importance to P.E. and that is another way Chuck and Flav have stayed consistent in 40 years of making nation conscious, wait … world conscious hip hop.