T H E D I G I TA L U N D E R G R O U N D

music is the CNN of black America” is audacious and cleverly recog-

nizes that pop culture can be, and often is, political. Though not

entirely accurate, the claim highlights the degree to which Public

Enemy’s innovations make it possible to talk about the real world is-

sues that frustrate the hip-hop nation. Drawing rap’s stories and im-

ages from the harsh terrain of everyday life pushed the genre toward

what was later packaged and marketed as �śreality rap.” The shift to

reality rap encouraged MCs to be grittier, franker speaking, and even

journalistic in their rhymes. In the end, Public Enemy’s belief that

rap could be relevant and socially conscious not only shook up hip

hop, it also gave the pop landscape a serious jolt. Their style of music was revealing, if not revolutionary, and established the conditions for

a notable change in rap’s tone.

Ironically, Public Enemy’s gift to hip hop, the idea of making

music real and relevant, also became a curse. The same traits that en-

hanced reality rap’s commercial vitality�"raw lyrics, aggressive style,

and disdain for the establishment�"also created space for a transla-

tion that was much coarser and less politically sophisticated. By the

early 1990s a new crop of �śreality rappers” directed their gaze toward

the ghetto underworld of crime, crack, and street hustling. This par-

ticular interpretation of reality rap outdueled Public Enemy in pop

music’s ultimate arena, the commercial marketplace. As hard core

styles like gangsta moved more toward shock reality, rap became

more about marketing than the message, more sensational than

cerebral.

Throughout the 1990s, as rap grew more corporate, the persona

and politics of Public Enemy wore down commercially. Like every

other group in the world of pop music, Public Enemy’s market value

rested not on the integrity or political e‰cacy of its message but

rather on the commercial appeal of its image and music. Predictably,

Public Enemy’s �śtoo black, too strong” politics, once all the rage, be-

came vulnerable to the volatile and viciously short attention span of

the youth marketplace. The issues that Public Enemy addressed in

their music were never temporary or trendy. Still, while the concerns

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