- 01“Vietnam”Jimmy CliffIn the late ’80s, the most radical production in hip-hop came from the Bomb Squad: Hank Shocklee at first, then Keith Shocklee, Eric “Vietnam” Sadler, Gary G-Wiz, Paul Shabazz, and Bill Stephney, depending on when in the collective’s evolution you happen to request a group photo.from the chapter
- 02“Lies”Spectrum CityThere’s one Spectrum City single, “Lies” backed with “Check Out the Radio.” “Lies” opens with a version of “La Marseillaise,” and “Check Out the Radio” has some of those tiptoeing horns that would later become a Bomb Squad trademark, and a catchier chorus (which would resurface …from the chapter
- 03“Check Out the Radio”Spectrum CityThere’s one Spectrum City single, “Lies” backed with “Check Out the Radio.” “Lies” opens with a version of “La Marseillaise,” and “Check Out the Radio” has some of those tiptoeing horns that would later become a Bomb Squad trademark, and a catchier chorus (which would resurface …from the chapter
- 04“The W”Wu-Tang ClanThere’s one Spectrum City single, “Lies” backed with “Check Out the Radio.” “Lies” opens with a version of “La Marseillaise,” and “Check Out the Radio” has some of those tiptoeing horns that would later become a Bomb Squad trademark, and a catchier chorus (which would resurface …from the chapter
- 05Iron FlagWu-Tang Clan… opens with a version of “La Marseillaise,” and “Check Out the Radio” has some of those tiptoeing horns that would later become a Bomb Squad trademark, and a catchier chorus (which would resurface almost two decades later, in altered form, on “The W,” a bonus track on the Wu-Tang Clan’s Iron Flag ).from the chapter
- 06Yo! Bum Rush the ShowPublic EnemyWhen I heard their records and started to get a handle on their aesthetic—and this would have been those first two Public Enemy records, Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987 and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back the following year—I was attracted to them immediately.from the chapter
- 07It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us BackPublic EnemyBum Rush the Show in 1987 and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back the following year—I was attracted to them immediately.from the chapter
- 08Fear of a Black PlanetPublic EnemySo it was a short-lived glory period: I’d add the third Public Enemy album, Fear of a Black Planet , Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted , and Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison —the Bomb Squad didn’t do the title track, which was Dr.from the chapter
- 09AmeriKKKa’s Most WantedIce CubeSo it was a short-lived glory period: I’d add the third Public Enemy album, Fear of a Black Planet , Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted , and Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison —the Bomb Squad didn’t do the title track, which was Dr.from the chapter
- 10PoisonBell Biv DeVoeSo it was a short-lived glory period: I’d add the third Public Enemy album, Fear of a Black Planet , Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted , and Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison —the Bomb Squad didn’t do the title track, which was Dr.from the chapter
- 11Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep BeatsTerminator XOn the low, I like the first Terminator X solo album, Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beats .from the chapter
- 12Bazerk, Bazerk, BazerkSon of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the BandOne album, out in May of that year, was called Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk , and was credited, in supremely unwieldy fashion, to Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the Band.from the chapter
- 13“Change the Style”Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the BandOne album, out in May of that year, was called Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk , and was credited, in supremely unwieldy fashion, to Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the Band.from the chapter
- 14Meet the BeatlesThe Beatles(Sound of Urban Listeners), was a straight parody of Meet the Beatles .from the chapter
- 15“Nobody Knows Kelli”Young Black Teenagerswith Children called “Nobody Knows Kelli” (she’d have a surprisingly long life in hip-hop lyrics, turning up fifteen years later in Spank Rock’s “Bump”).from the chapter
- 16“To My Donna”Young Black TeenagersThere’s one about Madonna called “To My Donna” (the group was mad at Madonna for using Public Enemy’s “Security of the First World” in “Justify My Love”).from the chapter
- 17“Security of the First World”Public EnemyThere’s one about Madonna called “To My Donna” (the group was mad at Madonna for using Public Enemy’s “Security of the First World” in “Justify My Love”).from the chapter
- 18“Justify My Love”MadonnaThere’s one about Madonna called “To My Donna” (the group was mad at Madonna for using Public Enemy’s “Security of the First World” in “Justify My Love”).from the chapter
- 19“Traci”Young Black TeenagersAnd there’s a song called “Traci” about “this girl around my block” who “gets my [horn sound effect] as hard as a rock.” (I didn’t put the “[horn sound effect]” there out of prudery.from the chapter
- 20“Cloud Nine”the TemptationsWhitfield wasn’t sure at first, but then he was sure, and for the next six years he built on it to create Motown’s own psychedelic soul: the first song in that style, “Cloud Nine,” was followed by “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” “Ball of Confusion,” and “Papa Was a Rolling …from the chapter
- 21“Runaway Child, Running Wild”the TemptationsWhitfield wasn’t sure at first, but then he was sure, and for the next six years he built on it to create Motown’s own psychedelic soul: the first song in that style, “Cloud Nine,” was followed by “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” “Ball of Confusion,” and “Papa Was a Rolling …from the chapter
- 22“Ball of Confusion”the TemptationsWhitfield wasn’t sure at first, but then he was sure, and for the next six years he built on it to create Motown’s own psychedelic soul: the first song in that style, “Cloud Nine,” was followed by “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” “Ball of Confusion,” and “Papa Was a Rolling …from the chapter
- 23“Papa Was a Rolling Stone”the TemptationsWhitfield wasn’t sure at first, but then he was sure, and for the next six years he built on it to create Motown’s own psychedelic soul: the first song in that style, “Cloud Nine,” was followed by “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” “Ball of Confusion,” and “Papa Was a Rolling …from the chapter
- 24“Masterpiece”the TemptationsSongs would stretch to ten, eleven minutes, but the first half would be purely instrumental, and the fact that the compositions were brilliant didn’t offset the hurt the group felt when people in the halls at Motown started referring to them as the “Norman Whitfield Choral …from the chapter
- 25“My TV Went Black and White on Me”Young Black TeenagersTimes changed between 1973 and 1992, of course, and the Young Black Teenagers were no Temptations, but a song like “My TV Went Black and White on Me,” even though it had lyrics, felt instrumental, because it was such a powerful and peerless demonstration of the Bomb Squad’s abilities and ambitions.from the chapter
- 26The ChronicDr. DreHe showed off his new moves on The Chronic , which dropped in December 1992.from the chapter
- 27“Can’t Truss It”Public EnemyIt was viewed and reviewed, incorporated into endless political discussions and pop-culture references (see, for example, the video for Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It,” the lead single from the first post-theft album, which was rushed together by Shocklee and the rest of the Squad).from the chapter