Song · Public Enemy
“Rebel Without A Pause” by Public Enemy
From the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
“Rebel Without A Pause” by Public Enemy appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1987 and 2022. It was first released in 1988 on the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Its best result is #14 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #108 alternative song of 1987.
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"Rebel Without a Pause" was the first song Public Enemy built for It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and the first single off it, its title a wisecrack on the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. Coming off a Def Jam tour alongside LL Cool J and Eric B. & Rakim, Chuck D decided their debut, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, already sounded stuck in 1986, and he and Bomb Squad chief Hank Shocklee resolved to lead hip-hop rather than chase it.
Their weapon was speed. Most rap records then ran at about 98 beats per minute; this one pushes to around 109, a tempo they'd tested onstage and loved for the jolt it gave a crowd, and the whole point was to get that live charge onto tape. Chuck D and Shocklee produced, and the writing credit goes to them with Eric Sadler and Terminator X.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 14 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1987 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 726 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2022 | 242 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
Also listed as: Rebel Without a Pause.
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