IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK

'''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''' is the second full-length album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 19, 1988 (see 1988 in music) on Def Jam Recordings. Widely regarded as the group's magnum opus, the album regularly ranks as one of the greatest and most influential recordings of all time in various publications.^[1][2][3] It is the highest ranking hip hop album on the list.^[4]
Enormously influential, the album's mix of The Bomb Squad's dense, sample-heavy production and Chuck D's politically charged lyrics turned the album into a sensation, peaking at #42 on the Billboard 200.

Contents

Track listing

Song title references

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Singles

Singles information

Partial list of samples

Adaptations

In other media

References

Track listing

''Note: W. Drayton is more commonly known as Flavor Flav and C. Ridenhour is more commonly known as Chuck D.''
#"Countdown to Armageddon" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 1:40
#"Bring the Noise" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 3:46
#"Don't Believe the Hype" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, W. Drayton) – 5:19
#"Cold Lampin' With Flavor" (E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, W. Drayton) – 4:17
#"Terminator X to the Edge of Panic" (C. Ridenhour, N. Rogers, W. Drayton) – 4:31
#"Mind Terrorist" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 1:21
#"Louder Than a Bomb" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 3:37
#"Caught, Can We Get a Witness?" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 4:53
#"Show Em Whatcha Got" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 1:56
#"She Watch Channel Zero?!" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, R. Griffin, W. Drayton) – 3:49
#"Night of the Living Baseheads" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 3:14
#"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, W. Drayton) – 6:23
#"Security of the First World" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 1:20
#"Rebel Without a Pause" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, N. Rogers) – 5:02
#"Prophets of Rage" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, W. Drayton) – 3:18
#"Party for Your Right to Fight" (C. Ridenhour, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee) – 3:24

Song title references

Certain track titles refer to other titles from popular culture. These include:

★ The title of the track "Louder Than a Bomb" was influenced by the title of The Smiths' album ''Louder Than Bombs''.^[5]

★ "Rebel Without a Pause", which is a play on the title of the 1955 James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause.

★ "Night of the Living Baseheads" is a play on the title of the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead.

★ "Party for Your Right to Fight" is a rearrangement of the Beastie Boys' song, "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" (frequently referred to as: "Fight For Your Right to Party").

★ The Vans shoe company released Public Enemy shoes for their Vans Supreme line of premium shoes. On the soles of the shoes is written; "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."

Personnel

★ Professor Griff – vocals

★ Chuck D. – vocals

★ Steven Ett – mixing

★ Fab 5 Freddy – vocals

★ Flavor Flav – vocals

★ Glen E. Friedman – photography

★ John Harrison – engineer

★ Rod Hui – mixing

★ Jeff Jones – engineer

★ Rick Rubin – executive producer

★ Carl Ryder – producer

★ Nick Sansano – engineer

★ Hank Shocklee – programming, producer

★ Terminator X – turntables

★ Chuck Valle – engineer

★ Eric "Vietnam" Sadler – programming, assistant producer

★ Norman Rogers – scratching

★ Bill Stephney – production supervisor

★ Erica Johnson – vocals

★ Oris Josphe – vocals

★ Johnny Juice Rosado – scratching, turntables

★ Greg Gordon – engineer

★ Jim Sabella – engineer

★ Keith Boxley – mixing

★ Chuck Chillout – mixing

★ Matt Tritto – engineer

★ Harry Allen – vocals

★ Christopher Shaw – engineer

Chart positions

Album

Album chart positions are taken from ''Billboard'' magazine (North America).^[6]

Chart (1988)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	42
U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	1

Singles

Singles chart positions are taken from ''Billboard'' magazine (North America).^[7]

Song	Chart (1988)	Peak position
"Bring the Noise"	U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	56
"Don't Believe the Hype"	U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	18
	U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play	21
	U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	17
"Night of the Living Baseheads"	U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	62
Song	Chart (1989)	Peak position
"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"	U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	86
	U.S. Hot Rap Singles	11

Singles information

Single cover	Single information
120x120px	'"Bring the Noise"' Single from the Less Than Zero soundtrack ★ Released: 1987 ★ B-side: "Are You My Woman?" by The Black Flames
120x120px	'"Don't Believe the Hype"' ★ Released: 1988 ★ B-side: "Prophets of Rage"
120x120px	'"Night of the Living Baseheads"' ★ Released: 1988 ★ B-side: "Cold Lampin' With Flavor" & "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic"
120x120px	'"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"' ★ Released: 1989 ★ B-side: "Caught, Can We Get A Witness? (Pre Black Steel Ballistic Felony Dub)"

Partial list of samples

The following lists some of the songs and sounds sampled on ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. In an interview years later, producer Hank Shocklee said that in the face of increased clearance costs for copyrighted material that replicating the number of samples used on the album wouldn't be impossible, but would be far more expensive than it was at the time [1].
;"Bring the Noise"
:
★ "It's My Thing" by Marva Whitney
:
★ "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
:
★ "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by Funkadelic
:
★ "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
:
★ "I Don't Know What this World is Coming To" by the Soul Children
;"Don't Believe the Hype"
:
★ "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
:
★ "Do the Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas
:
★ "I Got Ants in my Pants" & "Escape-ism" by James Brown
;"Cold Lampin' With Flavor"
:
★ "Funk It Up!" by Sweet
:
★ "Jungle Fever" by Chakachas
:
★ "Here We Go" (Live) by Run-DMC
:
★ "Gimme Some More" by The J.B.'s
:
★ "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd
:
★ "Lesson One (The Payoff Mix)" by Double Dee and Steinski
:
★ "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" by The Beastie Boys
;"Terminator X to the Edge of Panic"
:
★ "Flash" by Queen
:
★ "The Grunt" by The J.B.'s
:
★ "B.A.D." by Big Audio Dynamite
:
★ "Rebel Without a Pause" by Public Enemy
:
★ "Love Rap" by Spoonie G & the Treacherous Three
:
★ "Funky Drummer" & "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
;"Louder Than a Bomb"
:
★ "Long Red" by Mountain
:
★ "It's Yours" by T La Rock
:
★ "AJ Scratch" by Kurtis Blow
:
★ "Here We Go" (Live) by Run-DMC
:
★ "One for the Treble" by Davy DMX
:
★ "Feel Like Making Love" by Bob James
:
★ "Who's Gonna Take the Weight?" by Kool & the Gang
:
★ "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
:
★ "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" by The Beastie Boys
;"Caught, Can We Get a Witness?"
:
★ "Blow Your Head" by The J.B.'s
:
★ "Son of Shaft" by The Bar-Kays
:
★ "Theme from ''Shaft''" by Isaac Hayes
:
★ "Terminator X Speaks With His Hands" by Public Enemy
:
★ "Soul Power" (''Live at the Apollo Theatre'' 1971) by James Brown
:
★ "Hot Pants. . . I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming" by Bobby Byrd
;"Show 'Em Whatcha Got"
:
★ "Darkest Light" by the Lafayette Afro Rock Band
;"She Watch Channel Zero?!"
:
★ "Angel of Death" by Slayer
:
★ "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
;"Night of the Living Baseheads"
:
★ "UFO" by ESG
:
★ "Fame" by David Bowie
:
★ "The Grunt" by The J.B.'s
:
★ "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey
:
★ "Son of Shaft" by The Bar-Kays
:
★ "Funky Man" by Kool & The Gang
:
★ "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy
:
★ "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow
:
★ "Do the Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas
:
★ "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations
:
★ "Pick Up the Pieces" by Average White Band
:
★ "You Can Make It If You Try" by Sly & the Family Stone
:
★ "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To" by Soul Children
:
★ "Here We Go" (Live), & "Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1)" by Run-DMC
:
★ "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" & "Soul Power Pt. I" by James Brown
:
★ "Rappin' Ain't No Thang" by Boogie Boys featuring Kool Ski, Kid Delight & Disco Dave
;"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"
:
★ "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy
:
★ "Little Green Apples" by The Escorts
:
★ "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder
:
★ "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac Hayes
;"Rebel Without a Pause"
:
★ "The Grunt" by The J.B.'s
:
★ "Funky Drummer" & "Get Up Offa That Thing" by James Brown
:
★ "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To" by the Soul Children
;"Prophets of Rage"
:
★ "Cold Sweat" by James Brown
:
★ "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind & Fire
:
★ "Bring the Noise" & "Miuzi Weighs a Ton" by Public Enemy
;"Party for Your Right to Fight"
:
★ "Do That Stuff" by Parliament
:
★ "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd
:
★ "Butt-to-Butt Resuscitation" by Funkadelic
:
★ "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley & the Wailers
:
★ "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly & The Family Stone
:
★ "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
:
★ "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" by The Beastie Boys

Adaptations

The track "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" was covered by Tricky on the album ''Maxinquaye''. It was also covered by thrash metal group Sepultura on their ''Revolusongs'' EP. During their 1996 European tour Rage Against the Machine would frequently play alternative versions of this song including one at the Pinkpop Festival where they brought Chuck D out onto the stage to perform with them. This was later included on the ''Live & Rare'' album and the People of the Sun 10" single.
Chuck D recorded a new version of "Bring the Noise" in a 1991 collaboration with the thrash metal band Anthrax.

In other media

Music videos were made for several tracks on the album, including "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos", "Don't Believe the Hype", and "Night of the Living Baseheads".
The track "Rebel Without a Pause" appeared in the video game '' as well as the Playstation game ''.

References

1. Rolling Stone Essential Albums of the 90s at Rocklist.net
2. ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' at AcclaimedMusic.net
3. The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums at Rocklist.net
4. The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' review
5. Public Enemy - "Louder Than A Bomb" title influence

6. ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'': Billboard Albums at All Music Guide
7. ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'': Billboard Singles at All Music Guide