Penny for your thoughts, Chuck…

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[5.50]

Anthony Easton: “Copyright law will leave you a sloppy right jaw.” I have no idea what that idea means. Is it in favour of an open system, or does it think that an open system is part of the history of stealing African American intellectual/cultural history? And does it keep forgetting how Flavor Flav has sold his birthright for a mess of reality show fame?
[4]

Brad Shoup: Lot of veterans here. This single was debuted by another lifer, DJ Premier, who produced an H. Stax track by the same name (and with the same hook). The “Get It In” in question is lean, nervy politicking that distills Chuck’s platform (systems hidden in plain sight, the complex implications of copyright) to a weighty two-by-four. I’ve been resisting the word “vintage,” but Bumpy Knuckles’ S1W nostalgia and Flav’s stellar turn make it impossible. Why couldn’t this rule the air? I suspect PE already knows the answer.
[9]

Pete Baran: I suppose there are a few heritage acts in rap now, PE being probably being the most notable. And twenty five years later they have not really changed. The production is a little more robust, but not so you would notice, and PE always sounded less vital on their “party” tracks. There is a sense that they are disdaining Bumpy Knuckles as much as they are the song but it sounds like Public Enemy so I can’t completely hate it (I fought in the Hip-Hop wars you know…).
[4]

Alfred Soto: Solid – no more no less. The real surprise was the vitality of 2007’s How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? Corporate jerks still irk Chuck D, whose mission to deliver jewels to fools hasn’t changed or gained a hint of sanctimony. Which might be the problem: in these dark times we could stand to be hectored.  
[6]

Will Adams: Cool, head-nodding funk with tight lyrics and cool flourishes — the wacky echoes on Flavor Flav’s ad-libs add some great depth — all marred by a rather liberal relationship with staying on the beat.
[5]

Colin Small: Public Enemy can still kind of sound like Public Enemy.
[5]