Public Enemy (music group)

Public Enemy
Public Enemy performing in 2000.
Background information
Also known as	P.E.
Origin	Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Def Jam/Columbia/SME PolyGram PIAS
Associated acts	The Bomb Squad, Beastie Boys, Anthrax, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube, Brother Ali, Ziggy Marley, De La Soul, LL Cool J, PE 2.0, Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One, Prophets of Rage
Website	publicenemy.com
Members	Chuck D Flavor Flav DJ Lord Khari Wynn The S1W Professor Griff
Past members	Terminator X Sister Souljah

Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Khari Wynn, DJ Lord, and the S1W group. Formed on Long Island, New York, in 1982, they are known for their politically charged music and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the African American community. Their first four albums during the late 1980s and early 1990s were all certified either gold or platinum and were, according to music critic Robert Hilburn in 1998, "the most acclaimed body of work ever by a hip hop act". Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called them "the most influential and radical band of their time."

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Public Enemy number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", the highest ranking for a hip hop act. The group was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007. The band were announced as inductees for the 2013 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on December 11, 2012, making them the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted.

Carlton Ridenhour (Chuck D) and William Drayton (Flavor Flav) met at Long Island's Adelphi University in the early-1980s. Developing his talents as an MC with Flav while delivering furniture for his father's business, Chuck D and Spectrum City, as the group was called, released the record "Check Out the Radio", backed by "Lies", a social commentary—both of which would influence RUSH Productions' Run–D.M.C. and Beastie Boys. Chuck D put out a tape to promote WBAU (the radio station where he was working at the time) and to fend off a local MC who wanted to battle him. He called the tape Public Enemy #1 because he felt like he was being persecuted by people in the local scene. This was the first reference to the notion of a public enemy in any of Chuck D's songs. The single was created by Chuck D with a contribution by Flavor Flav, though this was before the group Public Enemy was officially assembled. Around 1986, Bill Stephney, the former Program Director at WBAU, was approached by Ali Hafezi and offered a position with the label. Stephney accepted, and his first assignment was to help fledgling producer Rick Rubin sign Chuck D, whose song "Public Enemy Number One" Rubin had heard from Andre "Doctor Dré" Brown.