Artist · chart history · #256 in indie & aaa artist polls
Public Enemy
Band Nassau County United States Formed 1985 US rap group
Public Enemy formed in 1985 in Nassau County, United States. Public Enemy has 49 chart appearances on 30 radio countdowns from 14 stations on RockLists, spanning 1987–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Fight The Power”, which appears on 17 lists with a best position of #8. The station that charted Public Enemy most often is 90.9 The Bridge (Kansas City, MO), with 9 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1987.
Public Enemy came roaring out of Roosevelt, Long Island, with Chuck D's voice booming like a public address system at a riot and Flavor Flav riding shotgun, and they made every other rap crew sound like it was whispering. Terminator X worked the turntables, Professor Griff stood alongside, and Def Jam handed them the megaphone. From the start the subject was America itself: its racism, and a media machine that sold it back to people.
Yo! Bum Rush the Show landed in 1987 to strong reviews, but It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in 1988, was the earthquake: "Bring the Noise", "Rebel Without a Pause", "Don't Believe the Hype" and "Night of the Living Baseheads", noise stacked on noise into a full sonic assault, and the first hip-hop record to top a major critics' poll. Fear of a Black Planet in 1990 brought "Fight the Power" and "911 Is a Joke", and Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black kept up the pressure with "By the Time I Get to Arizona". Those first four albums all went gold or platinum.
The lineup has shifted plenty since: Griff left and came back, DJ Lord replaced Terminator X, and the group cut the soundtrack to He Got Game. Chuck D and Flavor Flav remain the constants. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 2013, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award followed.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Public Enemy on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fight The Power | 17 | #8 | – | – | |
| 2 | Bring The Noise | 8 | #62 | – | – | |
| 3 | Rebel Without A Pause | 3 | #14 | – | 1987 | |
| 4 | Don't Believe The Hype | 4 | #516 | – | – | |
| 5 | By The Time I Get To Arizona | 2 | #134 | – | – | |
| 6 | 911 Is A Joke | 3 | #178 | – | – | |
| 7 | Lost at Birth | 1 | #222 | – | – | |
| 8 | Countdown to Armageddon | 1 | #302 | – | – | |
| 9 | Brothers Gonna Work It Out | 1 | #537 | – | – | |
| 10 | She Watch Channel Zero?! | 1 | #1328 | – | – | |
| 11 | He Got Game | 1 | #68 | – | 1998 | |
| 12 | You're Gonna Get Yours | 1 | #38 | – | 1987 | |
| 13 | Can't Trust it | 2 | #744 | – | – | |
| 14 | Hazy Shade of Criminal | 1 | #1671 | – | – | |
| 15 | Night Of The Living Baseheads | 2 | #50 | – | 1988 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Featured on
Songs by other artists credited with Public Enemy as a guest.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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