P.E.

Me rocking my Omni-Peace shirt wit Chuck D of Public Enemy

I was on summer break just arriving in Riverside, CA, to visit my best friend Zee and his family for a week or two. I had just gotten off of the bus, when Zee scooped me up with some loud rap music booming from his speakers. It went a little something like this...

Back-caught you lookin' for the same thing It's a new thing-check out this I bring Uh-oh the roll below the level 'Cause I'm livin' low Next to the bass (c'mon) Turn up the radio They claim that I'm a criminal By now I wonder how Some people never know The enemy could be their friend, guardian I'm not a hooligan I rock the party and Clear all the madness, I'm not a racist Preach to teach to all 'Cause some they never had this Number one, not born to run About the gun I wasn't licensed to have one The minute they see me, fear me I'm the epitome-a public enemy Used, abused, without clues I refused to blow a fuse They even had it on the news Don't believe the hype

I think I made Zee replay that track four or five times before we let the rest of the cd play. There was a message in the music, and I was listening. There was a certain level of consciousness all mixed in between the tight beats and scratches. From that moment I was a P.E. fan, awaiting each new cd they dropped along with whatever new message they. The music video I play on this blog, Shut Em Down is by P.E. if you hadn't noticed.

I like Nike but wait a minute The neighborhood supports em so put some Money in it Corporations owe Dey gotta give up the dough To da town or else We gotta shut 'em down

To me Public Enemy symbolizes the good of hip hop, or should I say was the good of hip hop. There are some today with such messages, but you have to look high and low to find them, cause they are certainly not getting the air play or the attention that they probably deserve. Even though P.E. never really got much play on the radio, they found ways to get their message out to the youth. Everything today is either bling or booty, so predictable, so boring.

So I got the chance to check out P.E. in full effect with all of its members, minus Terminator X, this past weekend. Chuck, Flav, Professor Grif and the S1-W's all rocked the spot. It was one heck of a performance, talk about an ol school party, much love to PK for making it happen.