Public Enemy’s 17th LP “Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025” Much Like “Radio Armageddon” Recaptures The Bomb Squad Sound (Album Review)
Long Island, New York political hip hop icons Public Enemy now consisting of frontman Chuck D alongside Flavor Flav & DJ Lord putting out their 17th LP on Bandcamp without any prior announcement. Their first 5 albums are hip hop essentials as what Chuck & company were saying on all of them are still very much relevant today. They ended up leaving Def Jam Recordings in ‘98 after releasing the He Got Game soundtrack, putting out a total of 10 full-lengths independently until returning to Def Jam posing the question What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Radio Armageddon marked Chuck’s official Def Jam debut as a solo artist last month & is transitioning that energy onto Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025.
“Siick” produced by C-Doc comes out the gate with a consciously charged rap rock intro observing the world being stricken in hate due to the current political climate until Flav joins Chuck on “Confusion (Here Come the Drums)” trading a verse with one another to talk about being the last of a dying breed of emcees. “What Eye Said” instrumentally feels reminiscent to The Bomb Squad asking if anyone can write a verse without cursing when Method Man & No Malice are the best modern examples of that, but then Flav pops back in on “C’mon Get Down” to hit y’all that old school shit.
Meanwhile on “Evil Ways”, we have the rhyme animal himself self-producing a rap rock cut of his own preaching that even the baddest savages eventually get humbled by the averages just before “Sexegenarian” works in more heavily sampling to talk about being 65 & speaking to every 35-year old out there strugglin’ with hopes of makin’ it. “Messy Hens” marks the first of 2 solo cuts Flavor Flav lays down refusing to worry about suckas since his legacy’s far from phony, but then “Fools Fools Fools” gets Tré Cool of Green Day on live drums for Chuck to call out the frauds lying behind their likes on social media.
“Public Enemy Comin Throoooo” finds Flav rightfully rubbing the group’s legacy in everyone’s faces & Mistachuck being the mad thinker to the “swinger” mentality of his hype man & “Ageism” commendably expands on the very topic that was addressed on Radio Armageddon last month with a funky sample backing him. “The Hits Just Keep on Comin’” brings the pair together 1 last time to plead for our country to wake up in the midst of the undying revolution & “March Madness” closes with 1 more Flavor Flav solo track attacking gun violence & crooked politicians.
Turns out What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? was originally intended to be a reissue of Nothing’s Quick in the Desert hence why some of the songs on that polarizing effort were mixed with newly recording material on their Def Jam comeback nearly 5 years ago this fall & Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 feels like a broader extension of what PE’s frontman did 5 weeks ago in the absolute best way imaginable. It’s refreshing to hear both of their core MCs over production reminiscent of their early years & the message of their existence needs to felt now more than ever.
Score: 8/10
