This classic anti-crack anthem off Public Enemy's world renowned second album "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" is our track for the day. Using the double meaning of Base/Bass as a base (sorry) for the song is a great touch.
Fittingly the beat absolutely booms out of your speakers with one of the best instrumentals on the album as Chuck D lays down three witty verses that carry a serious message about the problems that crack was causing in the community at that time.
In some of the hardest hitting lines, Chuck relays an anecdote about a former rapper who steals everything from a man living out of a car in order to fund his habit
My man Daddy-O once said to me
He knew a brother who stayed all day in his jeep
And at night he went to sleep
And in the mornin' all he had was the sneakers on his feet
The culprit used to jam and rock the mike, yo
He stripped the jeep to fill his pipe
And wander around to find a place
Where they rocked to a different kind of...BASS
PE really were revolutionaries in socially conscious Hip Hop and given they were one of the biggest acts in the 80s it's great that they used their stage to say something worthwhile. We can see their influence today as some of the biggest artists like Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore use their platform to tackle substance abuse amongst other issues.
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