The rap album Xzibit considers to be perfect: “This is my theme music”
Before Xzibit explored his music career, he came across an album that, little did he know, would remain his favourite body of work over three decades later. The Detroit rapper has iconic albums to his name, such as At the Speed of Life, 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz and Restless, which Public Enemy directly inspired.
Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s third album, Fear of a Black Planet, became pivotal in Xzibit’s understanding of hip-hop music and what he wanted to channel into his music. For him, he relished the ambitiousness of the songs and how important they were at the time, making it a perfect album.
“Public Enemy is my favourite rap group of all time, so Fear of a Black Planet, when it came out, I was really just a fan of hip-hop,” he told Pitchfork. “I hadn’t even thought about becoming an artist yet. I don’t remember exactly where I was in the scheme of things, but I know was young, I was still in school.
“So I was walking around school in my Sony Walkman, walking around the hallways feeling like, ‘This is my theme music.’ So, I can remember specifically how this music made me feel. But when you play that record, especially ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’, ‘Fight the Power‘, ‘911 Is a Joke’ – these were really different sounding songs and they were very powerful in the climate.”
He added, “Public Enemy have always been a Rage Against the Machine-esque hip-hop group for me. And so, that’s why I feel like, from top to bottom, that album represents a sound and an era in hip-hop that has yet to be eclipsed.”
Produced by The Bomb Squad, Fear of a Black Planet was released on Def Jam in April 1990, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and four on the UK Albums Chart. It’s often considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.
Xzibit explained how Chuck D’s original vocals inspired him to use his “gruff and rough” voice as an instrument in his songs. Specifically, ‘Fight the Power’, a song about fighting the abuse of power, was a standout track for him on the album, which famously appeared in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.
“My favourite track off Fear of a Black Planet was ‘Fight the Power’, simply because it was an anthem and the production on Public Enemy was always so interesting to me,” he said. “It was very busy; it had many, many layers, and I would just remember listening to these songs over and over and over and finding so much that I had missed before, and I knew these records by heart. When something connects and touches your soul like that, you just never forget.”
The former Pimp My Ride host continued, “I don’t even think it’s about the particular song, I think it’s the way the production transitions into every other song as it came in. Flavor Flav, Chuck D, The Bomb Squad – their chemistry together provided an environment that was really interesting to me. And I, fast forward as an artist, have developed and put that sound into my music as well.”