Read Online Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (33 1/3) by Christopher R. Weingarten - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Christopher R. Weingarten
Ads: Link
The riff devolves into a syncopated skritch-scratch like the sound of a DJ cutting up a trumpet, and concludes with a funky, incredulous, “
Gawwwd
, I’m trippin’ on
that
,” as if even Funkadelic were shocked by this mysterious haunted-house monster mashup of noises.
* * *
Chuck’s first reaction to hearing the instrumental of “Bring the Noise”: “What am I supposed to do with this?” 52 “Rebel without a Pause” was already Public Enemy’s punk-rock gambit. Says Chuck: “It was our statement to say, ‘Hey, we can make the records that everybody is making right now and even make them faster.’” 53 “Rebel” was a rebellious 100 beats per minute, but “Bring the Noise” was a dervish at 109 — “damn near disco.” 54 Like “Don’t Believe the Hype,” this track began as a beat tape that Chuck received while on the Def Jam tour. “Bring the Noise” would eventually introduce a new frontier in how fast a rap record could be, but on the tour bus, Chuck found the speed daunting. Using the working title “Countdown to Armageddon,” he spent the summer trying to tackle it, writing four or five verses in Rakim’s “break-up” style, doing quick bursts of speedy rap with dramatic pauses. It would help usher in the break-neck speed that would be
Nation of Millions
’ calling card. Chuck felt that rappers were “victimized” by their slow tempos — if rock bands could play their songs faster to match the energy of their crowds, why shouldn’t rappers play their records faster? Sometimes Public Enemy would have Terminator speed up the records when they performed, but you can only pitch up a record so much. “We made a fast record for the days of crack,” said Chuck. “That was the speed that we took it to, which matched the drug at the time.” 55
When Chuck returned from tour in September,Public Enemy recorded “Bring the Noise” so Rick Rubin would have something for the
Less Than Zero
soundtrack to fill the place of the then scrapped “Don’t Believe the Hype.” The crew showed up at Sabella Studios in Long Island to record — Keith and Hank laying down the drums, Chuck bringing in the samples — presumably including sounds from Funkadelic’s
Let’s Take It to the Stage
. Chuck had penned lyrics while driving in his car alongside the ocean in Long Island, playing the track in his tape deck and taking notes. He later said he hit a creative wall, faced with pages of lyrics but no idea of which ones to use. Hank suggested that Chuck tackle each verse with a different style. The crew stayed in the studio until early morning, Terminator X laying down the final scratches around 5 a.m.
Chuck wasn’t originally sold on the song when Harry Allen brought him a tape of the mix in Atlanta. Frustrated that they had made an innovative track that wasn’t a potential hit, he threw the tape across the room and “damn near out the window.” 56 He would be surprised in November when Public Enemy toured Europe. Chuck had Terminator throw on the acetate, and the crowd went nuts — the track would become one of their signatures. Just like “Rebel without a Pause,” “Bring The Noise” proved that the “B-side wins again.” Upon its release in November 1987 as the B-side to a split 12-inch, it would immediately steal the spotlight from the Black Flames, the R&Bgroup leading with a stiff, robotic, un-fun cover of the Chi-Lites’ triumphant “Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So).” Russell Simmons had picked the Black Flames for the soundtrack, much to Rubin’s dismay, who would rather have been in L.A. recording with Slayer. The split single was a living symbol that the Def Jam co-conspirators were headed in two disparate directions: Simmons looking to diversify with R&B, Rubin looking to destroy speakers with heavy records.
* * *
Immediately after
Let’s Take It to the Stage
, P-Funk would blow up both financially (due to the success of the
Mothership Connection
album and tour) and
Gawwwd
, I’m trippin’ on
that
,” as if even Funkadelic were shocked by this mysterious haunted-house monster mashup of noises.
* * *
Chuck’s first reaction to hearing the instrumental of “Bring the Noise”: “What am I supposed to do with this?” 52 “Rebel without a Pause” was already Public Enemy’s punk-rock gambit. Says Chuck: “It was our statement to say, ‘Hey, we can make the records that everybody is making right now and even make them faster.’” 53 “Rebel” was a rebellious 100 beats per minute, but “Bring the Noise” was a dervish at 109 — “damn near disco.” 54 Like “Don’t Believe the Hype,” this track began as a beat tape that Chuck received while on the Def Jam tour. “Bring the Noise” would eventually introduce a new frontier in how fast a rap record could be, but on the tour bus, Chuck found the speed daunting. Using the working title “Countdown to Armageddon,” he spent the summer trying to tackle it, writing four or five verses in Rakim’s “break-up” style, doing quick bursts of speedy rap with dramatic pauses. It would help usher in the break-neck speed that would be
Nation of Millions
’ calling card. Chuck felt that rappers were “victimized” by their slow tempos — if rock bands could play their songs faster to match the energy of their crowds, why shouldn’t rappers play their records faster? Sometimes Public Enemy would have Terminator speed up the records when they performed, but you can only pitch up a record so much. “We made a fast record for the days of crack,” said Chuck. “That was the speed that we took it to, which matched the drug at the time.” 55
When Chuck returned from tour in September,Public Enemy recorded “Bring the Noise” so Rick Rubin would have something for the
Less Than Zero
soundtrack to fill the place of the then scrapped “Don’t Believe the Hype.” The crew showed up at Sabella Studios in Long Island to record — Keith and Hank laying down the drums, Chuck bringing in the samples — presumably including sounds from Funkadelic’s
Let’s Take It to the Stage
. Chuck had penned lyrics while driving in his car alongside the ocean in Long Island, playing the track in his tape deck and taking notes. He later said he hit a creative wall, faced with pages of lyrics but no idea of which ones to use. Hank suggested that Chuck tackle each verse with a different style. The crew stayed in the studio until early morning, Terminator X laying down the final scratches around 5 a.m.
Chuck wasn’t originally sold on the song when Harry Allen brought him a tape of the mix in Atlanta. Frustrated that they had made an innovative track that wasn’t a potential hit, he threw the tape across the room and “damn near out the window.” 56 He would be surprised in November when Public Enemy toured Europe. Chuck had Terminator throw on the acetate, and the crowd went nuts — the track would become one of their signatures. Just like “Rebel without a Pause,” “Bring The Noise” proved that the “B-side wins again.” Upon its release in November 1987 as the B-side to a split 12-inch, it would immediately steal the spotlight from the Black Flames, the R&Bgroup leading with a stiff, robotic, un-fun cover of the Chi-Lites’ triumphant “Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So).” Russell Simmons had picked the Black Flames for the soundtrack, much to Rubin’s dismay, who would rather have been in L.A. recording with Slayer. The split single was a living symbol that the Def Jam co-conspirators were headed in two disparate directions: Simmons looking to diversify with R&B, Rubin looking to destroy speakers with heavy records.
* * *
Immediately after
Let’s Take It to the Stage
, P-Funk would blow up both financially (due to the success of the
Mothership Connection
album and tour) and
Similar Books
