“My job is to write shocking lyrics that will wake people up,” said Chuck D. That was his goal as the leader of Public Enemy (Dery , 1990). He wrote uplifting and energizing lyrics. Public Enemy was the voice of the African-American community. Their lyrics contain controversial and popular topics such as drugs, crime, racism and poverty. Besides the lyrics, the instrumentals are important in conveying the group's goal. The instrumental/sound part creates the mood, sets the rhythm and gets people engaged. In the late 1980s, Public Enemy introduced an intense and harsh hip-hop sound, which changed the sound of hip-hop. According to Rolling Stone magazine, "Public Enemy's inventive production team, the Bomb Squad, created a unique, loud, layered, avant-garde-inspired sound that incorporated sirens, thumping turntable scratches and intelligently juxtaposed musical and spoken samples” (Simon & Schuster, 2001). All these brand new sounds of their songs were musically revolutionary in the late 1980s. Public Enemy's music consists of inspiring lyrics as well as a strong and innovative sound. Words and sound work together, in addition to visual media, to help reach millions of people in the form of political commentary. The members of Public Enemy met at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York in 1982 (Simon & Schuster, 2001). Public Enemy is one of the most influential and controversial rap groups in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Members of Public Enemy include Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and his group S1W, DJ Lord, and music director Khari Wynn. There are two singers, drummers, guitarists and scratchers. Public Enemy consists of...... middle of paper ......sic 11(3): 263-380Warrell, Laura K.. 2002. “Fight the Power.” Accessed May 18, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2002/06/03/fight_the_power/DiscographyChuck D and Yusuf Jah. 1997. Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Dyson, Michael Eric. 1996. Rules of Racing: Crossing the Color Line. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Makoni, Sinfree and Alastair Pennycook. 2007. Disinventing and reconstituting languages. Clevedon [England]: Buffalo. Watkins, S. Craig. 2005. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Fight for the Soul of a Movement. Boston: Beacon Press. Perry, Imani. 2004. Neighborhood Prophets: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham: Duke University Press. Werner, Craig Hansen. 2006. A Change is Coming: Music, Race, and the Soul of America. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.