Public Enemy at the height of their power – all the best cuts from their early years on Def Jam Records – from a time when they were really helping expand the scope and political power of hip hop! The group were essential in taking the music from the parties in the streets to the issues that really mattered to the people who were listening – and even after all these years, it's impossible to deny the impact and power of these cuts – many of which deal with issues that still haven't been resolved all these many decades later! Every track is a gem – and titles include "You're Gonna Get Yours", "Public Enemy #1", "Rebel Without A Pause", "Bring The Noise", "Don't Believe The Hype", "Prophets Of Rage", "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos", "Fight The Power", "Welcome To The Terrordome", "911 Is A Joke", "Brothers Gonna Work It Out", "Can't Truss It", "Can't Do Nuttin For Ya Man", "Hazy Shade Of Criminal", "Shut 'Em Down", "By The Time I Get To Arizona", and "He Got Game". CD

A huge dip into the history of hip hop – in a set that's something of a groundbreaking effort from the folks at the Smithsonian! If we're honest, we'll tell you that we're old enough to remember a time when folks thought that hip hop was just a fad – when it was a musical style that would disappear in just a few short years. But now, all these many decades later, the form has had such an impact on American culture that the Smithsonian Institute is giving it some official sort of due – something we never would have believed back in the 80s! The package is huge – 9CDs with a whopping 129 tracks in all, and a 300 page book that supports the recordings with an insane amount of notes, photos, and all sorts of other information – alongside a track list that was put together by folks who include Questlove, 9th Wonder, Chuck D, Jeff Chang, and MC Lyte! The set is especially great on old school tracks up through the golden era hip hop years – but also moves into the 21st century too – and artists include Treacherous Three, Afrika Bambaataa, Fearless Four, Cold Crush Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Run DMC, Fatback, Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Funky Four +1, T La Rock, Schoolly D, Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, Mantronix, Stetsasonic, Audio Two, Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Marley Marl, Tone Loc, Jungle Brothers, NWA, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, De La Soul, Queen Latifa, DOC, 2 Live Crew, Dr Dre, Sir Mix A Lot, Digable Planets, Positive K, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Naughty By Nature, Black Sheep, Tribe Called Quest, Geto Boys, Pharcyde, 2Pac, Warren G, Gang Starr, Notorious BIG, and many many more! CD

A sharp, angry salvo from Ice Cube! Cube's early 90s solo style was firmly established at this point, so Lethal Injection doesn't have the acknowledged classic status of his previous couple albums, but he's still close to his prime that it's well worth your dollar! As you'd guess from the title, he's still pretty angry – the reasons for that permanent scowl he wore at the time are all over the place, as is the firm Lench Mob production. Tracks include "Really Doe", "Ghetto Bird", "Bop Gun (One Nation)" featuring George Clinton, "What Can I Do?", "Make It Ruff, Make It Smooth" featuring K-Dee, "Down For Whatever", "Enemy", "When I Get To Heaven", and more. CD

The dawn of millennium classic by Dead Prez – and angry, revolution-minded effort from a period on major label hip hop that sorely lacked such strident players – and if it didn't make any huge waves commercially, that only strengthens its legacy! Sticman & M1 are at the top of their game lyrically, the beats are are exciting to this day, and it all adds up to one of the strongest politically minded hip hop records of its time. Titles include "Wolves", "Hip Hop", "They Schools", "The Pistol", "Discipline", "Enemy Lines", "Mind Sex", "Propaganda", "You'll Find A Way", "Police State", and many more. LP, Vinyl record album

The classic agit-rap-rock debut of Rage Against The Machine – with the most fiery political lyricism and imagery of any massively popular record of its time – and as great of a pairing of revolutionary rap and heavy guitars as there ever was! It's hard to imagine now, but there were very few straight up rap rock bands before Rage Against The Machine. Hard rock breaks were ample, of course, but straight up rap rock bands were pretty scarce, pre-Rage. Rage Against The Machine's pop culture revolution was as massive as the social and political revolution that their songs called for! Includes "Bombtrack", "Killing In The Name", "Take The Power Back", "Settle For Nothing", "Bullet In The Head", "Know Your Enemy", "Wake Up", "Fistful Of Steel", "Township Rebellion" and "Freedom". (Rock, Hip Hop) CD

Maybe one of the last moments of genius from Public Enemy – and a set that still has their power and politics very much at the top of their game! The message may even be more powerful than the music at points – no surprise for Chuck D and crew at this point in their career – but in comparison to so many other weaker records from the time, the whole thing's still held up very well with age – and has managed to slide strongly into the rest of their previous catalog. Titles include their popular "Bring Tha Noize" duet with Anthrax – plus "Get the F–- Outta Dodge", "Can't Truss It", "By The Time I Get To Arizona", "Nighttrain", "Shut Em Down", "A Letter To The New York Post", "1 Million Bottlebags", and "More News At 11". CD

Maybe one of the last moments of genius from Public Enemy – and a set that still has their power and politics very much at the top of their game! The message may even be more powerful than the music at points – no surprise for Chuck D and crew at this point in their career – but in comparison to so many other weaker records from the time, the whole thing's still held up very well with age – and has managed to slide strongly into the rest of their previous catalog. Titles include their popular "Bring Tha Noize" duet with Anthrax – plus "Get the F–- Outta Dodge", "Can't Truss It", "By The Time I Get To Arizona", "Nighttrain", "Shut Em Down", "A Letter To The New York Post", "1 Million Bottlebags", and "More News At 11". CD

Maybe one of the last moments of genius from Public Enemy – and a set that still has their power and politics very much at the top of their game! The message may even be more powerful than the music at points – no surprise for Chuck D and crew at this point in their career – but in comparison to so many other weaker records from the time, the whole thing's still held up very well with age – and has managed to slide strongly into the rest of their previous catalog. Titles include their popular "Bring Tha Noize" duet with Anthrax – plus "Get the F–- Outta Dodge", "Can't Truss It", "By The Time I Get To Arizona", "Nighttrain", "Shut Em Down", "A Letter To The New York Post", "1 Million Bottlebags", and "More News At 11". LP, Vinyl record album

The first mind-blowin' bombed out LP from the legendary PE! Public Enemy was still finding its voice on this debut effort, and if it's not quite the revolutionary experience to be found on the following couple of albums, it's still a fascinating effort and one of the best and most original hip hop debuts of the late 80s! Tracks include "You're Gonna Get Yours", "Timebomb", "Miuzi Weighs a Ton", "Sophisticated B*tch", and the title cut. CD