Public Enemy were arguably the first political rap group and one of the most influential hip-hop groups ever. Carrying on the baton from "message-music" soul singers of the 70s like Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scott Heron, Public Enemy rapped ferociously in support of African-Americans and criticised the institutional racism that white America didn't see. Like the Beastie Boys, they had a confrontational style which took time to appeal to mainstream audiences, but their innovation, intelligence and wit eventually saw them getting their message across to millions of fans worldwide.

Public Enemy were formed in 1986 by Chuck D, whose strong, authoritative voice was to deliver the hard-edged social and political rhetoric, while his friend Flava Flav played the comic sidekick with his left-field interjections. Their debut album the following year, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, was acclaimed by the hip-hop community without making any wider impact. That was to change with their second album in 1988, which is regularly suggested to be hip-hop's greatest ever album: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. Its loud, aggressive sound perfectly matched the forceful messages of tracks such as "Don't Believe The Hype" and "Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos". The way it revolutionised hip-hop can be demonstrated from another song title: "Party for your Right to Fight" was a rearrangement of the Beasties' song title "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)". With ...A Nation of Millions, Public Enemy sought to inspire their fans to activism, as well as dancing. Chief lyricist Chuck D made many claims that were uncomfortable for white Americans - that rap was the "black CNN", for example. In doing so he revived a public discourse that had fallen quiet - about the social status of black Americans - while starting a new one asserting the validity of hip-hop as a musical genre. If any rock critics had doubts about that, ...A Nation of Millions demonstrated just how powerful hip-hop could be.

Their views were not without controversy, however, and Professor Griff overstepped the mark in 1989 when he made anti-Semitic comments in a newspaper interview. He quietly left the band after the ensuing media storm. 1990's follow-up album, Fear of a Black Planet, was acclaimed as being just as good a record as its predecessor, though it had less cultural impact: you could say that Fear of a Black Planet was the re-election that followed the revolution. It closed with "Fight The Power", which became known as one of hip-hop's most seminal tracks and Public Enemy's signature song. Fourth album Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Back was recorded with metal band Anthrax, and again received very positive reviews, but after a less-successful fifth album and Flava developing a drug problem, the band was retired in 1995. Since a comeback in 1998 Public Enemy have returned to touring and continue to release solid politically charged albums, without ever matching the impact of their earlier work.