It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records.
Recorded from 1987 to 1988 at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York, the album features production by Public Enemy's team, the Bomb Squad, who introduced a densely aggressive sound influenced by free jazz, heavy funk, and musique concrète. This backdrop complemented lead rapper Chuck D's performances, which were characterized by sociopolitical rhetoric, revolutionary attitudes, and a dense vocabulary.
The album charted for 47 weeks on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 42, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1989. It received widespread acclaim from critics for its innovative production techniques and Chuck D's socially and politically charged lyricism. It was featured on many publications' year-end top album lists for 1988 and was the overwhelming choice for the best album of 1988 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Since its release, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back has been regarded as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time by music writers and publications. In 2000, it was voted number 92 in Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, it was ranked number 48 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the highest ranking of all hip hop albums on the list and the only one in the top 100. In the 2020 version of the list, the album was ranked number 15, while other hip-hop albums also moved into the top 100.
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
1 Countdown to Armageddon
2 Bring the Noise
3 Don't Believe the Hype
4 Cold Lampin' With Flavor
5 Terminator X to the Edge of Panic
6 Mind Terrorist
7 Louder Than a Bomb
8 Caught, Can We Get a Witness?
9 Show 'Em Watcha Got
10 She Watch Channel Zero?!
11 Night of the Living Baseheads
12 Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos
13 Security of the First World
14 Rebel Without a Pause
15 Prophets of Rage
16 Party for Your Right to Fight
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