Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black

Public Enemy’s fourth album, Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black, was released on October 1, 1991 through Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. The album name plays off the titles of the films Apocalypse Now and The Empire Strikes Back.

The album continued the socio-political brand of hardcore hip-hop over Bomb Squad beats from their previous three albums; however, the album’s sound was shifted after some music disks were lost. Some of the tracks here include a recreation of their 1988 track “Bring the Noise” with the heavy metal band Anthrax and songs such as “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” which dealt with the state of Arizona’s refusal to acknowledge Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday.

The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and topped the R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts before achieving platinum status with support from the singles “Bring tha Noize,” “Can’t Truss It,” “Nighttrain,” and “Shut ‘Em Down,” which saw its popularity increase with the release of a Pete Rock remix. The album was critically acclaimed, ranking #2 on The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop critics’ poll and a spot on The Source’s list of the Top 100 Rap Albums of All Time.