Rewind album: Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy

Public Enemy
Def Jam/Columbia

Has there ever been a more direct, immediate and even threatening mission statement in the title and cover art of any record than that of Public Enemy's third album?

On the rear cover of band members Chuck D and Flavor Flav are portrayed at an apparent military command meeting poring over a map of the world, surrounded by "ministers" Terminator X and Professor Griff, and consulting their beats and samples maestros, the Bomb Squad, on what looks like plans for a world takeover. The message is clear: prepare for domination.

Public Enemy shook the foundations of popular music when they first appeared in hip hop's second generation of acts: they were loud, their beats were hard, they incorporated militarist imagery in their act, and their lyrics appeared to threaten the white-led establishment.

But it was among the incendiary tracks of , in numbers such as the street-wise call to arms that Public Enemy laid out an intelligently formulated political manifesto.

gave hip hop political legitimacy and forced the music industry to accept the nascent genre as more than a mere fad. While the New York outfit's first two albums had established them as erudite rabble rousers, it was their third release that showed their rage was more than just bluster: had purpose and belief.