Song · Public Enemy
“By The Time I Get To Arizona” by Public Enemy
From the album Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black (1991)
“By The Time I Get To Arizona” by Public Enemy appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2010 and 2023. It was first released in 1991 on the album Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black. Its best result is #134 on the WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010).
Watch
Video from YouTube (ponxalot). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
Public Enemy aimed "By the Time I Get to Arizona" squarely at one state. On Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black, Chuck D went after Arizona, where governor Evan Mecham had cancelled Martin Luther King Jr. Day and voters had then refused to bring it back, and the result is political hip-hop at full boil. Chuck D shares the writing credit with Hank Shocklee, Gary Rinaldo and Neftali Santiago.
It was never an A-side, only the flip of "Shut 'Em Down" in January 1992, but it got a video of its own, and that clip caused a storm: it showed black paramilitaries killing Arizona politicians to avenge King, a man who preached non-violence. Some black activists, and King's widow Coretta Scott King, condemned it; Chuck D and the group's spokesman Harry Allen argued it was a revenge fantasy for King's murder, and plainly fiction.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 134 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2023 | 630 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "By The Time I Get To Arizona" by Public Enemy.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.