Chris Collins discusses hip hop in 1988, centering on Public Enemy and their producers the Bomb Squad. He frames 1988 as a peak year for hip hop with major artists (Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Juice Crew, EPMD, LL Cool J, Run-DMC) and argues Public Enemy provided a politically charged voice that fostered Black pride amid the crack epidemic and widespread racism. He calls the Public Enemy record produced by the Bomb Squad one of the greatest and most important records in history.
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So 1988 and what we're here to talk about, Public Enemy. Hell yeah. So tell me what's going on with you in 1988? So you're. Are you 16? I have that right? Yes.
Yeah, I think so. 16. 17. 16. 16. Yeah, I was 16. Hip hop was, I think, at its best around that time, because that same year you had Public Enemy, you had Big Daddy Kane, you had De La Soul Juice Crew, you had epmd, you had LL Cool J, you had Run dmc. Like everybody knows those names. This is. This came out these. They had albums during that time. It was such an amazing moment in music. And it was also a moment for black people to develop a level of self pride. Public Enemy was an integral part of that because where, I guess you could say the musical version of the Black Panthers, white folks feared them and black folks loved them because they understood the plight of what was going on at that time. The crack epidemic was heavy. There was a lot of racist things that was going on at the time. These guys helped me understand that through music, through their message. And it did help that the was dope too. They, along with the Bomb Squad, which was the production team, created what I believe one of the greatest and one of the most important records in history. Not just hip hop history, but history.
