Public Enemy legend Chuck D made a surprise appearance during the Anthrax and Hatebreed show at the Coney Island Amphitheater on Friday night (August 26).
The two music titans performed “Bring The Noise,” their collaboration from the 1991 Anthrax album Attack of the Killer B’s. The moment Anthrax singer Scott Ian asked the crowd if they could “bring the noise,” they knew what was coming. But they probably didn’t expect Chuck D to pop up out of nowhere and deliver his verses.
Granted, Chuck D admitted in a Twitter post it was a bit harder to do than it was 30 years ago. As he noted on Twitter, “It’s why @publicenemyftp @anthrax was unmatched so you rapper listeners take note. It’s speed thrashing (& moving). I was done by mid 3rd verse. Played it off. I’m no longer 31-impossible to ramp up 0-200 bpm off sidestage on the hardest fasted band on Earth.”
Still, the crowd lit up like a Christmas tree as Chuck and Anthrax tore through the song, while another video showed several fans rapping every word.
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Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise” was originally featured on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Less Than Zero but released as a single later that year. It then became the first song on Public Enemy’s 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back.
The single reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, while the album itself peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200. However, it landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Black Albums. It has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Chuck D, of course, is one of Hip Hop’s most revolutionary voices. Along with Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Terminator X and the rest of the Bomb Squad, he released over 15 albums under the Public Enemy umbrella, including 1987’s Yo! Bum Rush The Show, 1990’s Fear of a Black Planet and 1991’s Apocalypse ’91…The Enemy Strikes Black.
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The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 by Harry Belafonte and director Spike Lee, one of only a handful of Hip Hop groups to receive the honor.