1988’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second album from 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Public Enemy (only the fourth hip-hop act to receive the honor) and follow-up to their 1987 debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show. With innovative production from the Bomb Squad which brilliantly bolsters and balances the social/political proclamations of Chuck D and lighthearted humor of Flavor Flav, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and its groundbreaking anthems “Bring The Noise,” “Don’t Believe The Hype” and “Fight The Power,” was as deep and revolutionary as hip hop got at the time and as influential as anything that ever came out of the genre.

“Loud, obnoxious, funky, avant-garde, political, hilarious – Public Enemy’s brilliant second album is all of these things, all at once. Chuck D booms intricate rhymes with a delivery inspired by sportscaster Marv Albert; sidekick Flavor Flav raps comic relief; and production team the Bomb Squad builds mesmerizing, multilayered jams, pierced with shrieking sirens. The title and roiling force of “Bring the Noise” is truth in advertising. “If they’re callin’ my music ‘noise,'” said Chuck D, “if they’re saying that I’m really getting out of character being a black person in America, then fine – I’m bringin’ more noise.” – #48 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time