“I’d like to make sure that our message that we came to deliver gets across”
– Flava Flav
On November 3, 1987, Public Enemy invaded London as part of the Def Jam ’87 Tour with LL Cool J and Eric B. & Rakim. Recorded a few months after the release of their debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show, P.E. performed records that would later appear on their 5-mic album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Live segments from this concert were even used on the critically acclaimed album. Charged with the political driven lyrics of Chuck D, spirited hype of Flava Flav, paramilitary security of the S1W’s and impeccable techniques of Terminator X, Public Enemy conquered the capital of the British Empire. This concert film features footage of P.E.’s stage show as well as interviews on origins of their stage name, message and the state of black people in American society. This is video evidence of when rap music was the black America’s CNN.
“The message is telling black people that we love gotta love each other and respect ourselves in order to get respect from others right now at the particular time. Also the message is that we also have to understand that we have a background, we have a culture, it is proud to be black just not to say it but to know how and why it is at the same time understand that’s there’s reasons for us being the way we are”
– Chuck D
-Joe-Louis Mccray
