Public Enemy has revealed the tracklist for their upcoming Def Jam comeback album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?, and it’s an old-school hip-hop head’s dream come true. Not only does it feature Black Thought, Nas, Rapsody, and YG on the group’s “Fight The Power: Remix 2020,” but it also features appearances from rarely-heard rap pioneers like Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock and Mike D, Cypress Hill, Ice-T, and Run-DMC, as well as two appearances from funk icon George Clinton.
While the group prepares to release its first new album in three years — their last was Nothing Is Quick In The Desert in 2017, released independently to the group’s Bandcamp — they are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of one of their biggest hits, Fear Of A Black Planet, this month with an art show in Colorado featuring work from Obey logo creator Shepard Fairey and Public Enemy founder Chuck D himself.
Starting off the year with the announcement that the band had “fired” founder and member Flavor Flav, Public Enemy has seen a turnaround of historic proportions. While Chuck D admitted that the firing was more of a wake-up call to draw attention back to the group, they’ve since capitalized on the renewed interest, releasing a quick blitz of new music and striking while the iron is still hot with the announcement of their return to Def Jam for their new album.
What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? is due 9/25 via Def Jam Recordings. Pre-save it here.