Public Enemy released the 1988 hip-hop album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.
The album was Public Enemy’s second studio release and followed their 1987 debut, Yo! Bum Rush the Show. It was produced by the Bomb Squad, whose dense, layered production combined hard drum loops, samples, noise, and politically charged sound design.
Songs such as “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” and “Rebel Without a Pause” helped make the record a defining statement of late-1980s political hip hop. Chuck D delivered the main vocals, while Flavor Flav provided comic relief and energetic interjections.
A common mix-up is confusing the album with Public Enemy’s debut or with Fear of a Black Planet, released in 1990. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is widely regarded as one of hip hop’s most influential albums and was later added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.