Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin': The Authorized Story of Public Enemy Review

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(More customer reviews)Whilst I was down town in my local bookshop, killing an hour or two until the cinema opened, I happened to come across this book whilst browsing the music section. Truth to told I was a big PE fan, and until listening to 'Rebel without a pause, I wasn't really down with hip hop. I had no real intention of getting this, but the more I read, the more hyped I was to spend some quality time reading more. I duly copped it, and the best part of two days (it would have been quicker, but little matters like the wife & kids got in the way) devouring it. .I really enjoyed this book. My highlights were the sections that covered their early years, pre PE, how the collective ended up on 'Strong' Island, the paths that led them to hooking up. I especially enjoyed the sections that covered their four great albums: Yo! Bum rush the show, it takes a nation............, Fear of a black planet, and Apocalypse '91. Controversy was never far from Public Enemy then, and it was great to get a insight from the protagonists themselves in their own words, what with the infamous Griff with the Washington Post/Village Voice, to frictions with Def jam, and within the group.
The only flaw for me upon finishing this book is the very reason that it's also a good read. Due to the fact that Russell Myrie had authorized access to the group, he is able to let them tell the story from their own recollection, as opposed to devising arguments to fit the scenario from his own reasoning. But, I think this also hampers his own view point concerning the group. For example, he try to sell the argument that time has proved that 'Muse Sick-n- Hour Mess Age is not as bad an album as some 'critics' would have you believe. Whilst I partly agree with that statement, to me, that album was the moment the group's creative juice fell off. It was also the moment the language, i.e. the swearing, increased, and continued to do so, on future releases, compared to what had gone before. Also a s my last purchase of any PE material was said' Muse Sick', and the chapters that followed, relating to events from 1994 to the present day, weren't as exciting to me as there Golden age, previously mentioned
That aside I really enjoyed this biography, and would recommend it to any/all PE fans

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Russell Myrie’s Don’t Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin’ is the first authorized biography of Public Enemy, the foremost hip-hop group of all time. With unprecedented access to the group, Myrie has conducted extensive interviews with Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X, Professor Griff, and the Shocklee Brothers, along with many others who form a part of Public Enemy’s legacy. Beginning with the group’s inception on Long Island and working up to the present day, Myrie writes with in-depth detail about the making of each seminal album, including It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and their multimillion selling album, Fear of a Black Planet. Myrie delves into the controversy sparked by Professor Griff’s alleged anti- Semitic remarks, the complexities of PE’s relationship with the Nation of Islam, the group’s huge crossover appeal with white and alternative music audiences in the early nineties, and finally the strange circumstances of Flavor Flav’s re-emergence on reality TV with shows such as The Surreal Life and Flavor of Love. A rare behind-the-music look at the group that fought the power, terrorized the music industry, and was crucial to the development of the hip-hop music phenomenon.

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