In the summer of 1988, weeks before the release of their sophomore album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy put out the LP’s second promotional single “Don’t Believe the Hype.” Being the provocative, political duo that they were, evident with songs like “Fight the Power,” Chuck D and Flavor Flav got used to ruffling feathers early in their career, but would still take the time to fire back at critics.
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So what is the meaning behind “Don’t Believe the Hype?” The song was conceived because of backlash Public Enemy received for their 1987 debut single “Public Enemy No. 1.” Most notably, they seemed to be responding to a radio DJ named Mr. Magic for the station WBLS in their hometown of New York. After helping premiere the track on his show, Mr. Magic had nothing nice to say about Public Enemy’s coming out party of a song.
“I was just asking the fellas, what’s the name of the record? ‘Public Enemy.’ Who’s it by? ‘Public Enemy.’ The beat is dope, but the rapping is kinda weak,” the DJ said on-air. “Let’s not go through that no more, it ruins the program… I guarantee you, no more music by the suckas.”
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Additionally, Chuck D has noted several times that “Don’t Believe the Hype” is also inspired by left-wing political commentator Noam Chomsky, who authored the famous book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, which came out the same year as the song. In the book, Chomsky and co-author Edward S. Herman talk about how mass media in the U.S. shape narratives with propaganda and influence groupthink.
“Anybody who knows me really well or cares knows I wrote Don’t Believe The Hype a bit influenced by Noam Chomsky Manufacturing Consent in the 80s,” Chuck D said in a tweet from 2021.
The essence of the book surely transferred into Chuck D’s lyrics in the three verses of “Don’t Believe the Hype,” where he paints the media as an adversary to Public Enemy because of their overly negative coverage of the group.
In the daytime radio’s scared of me
‘Cause I’m mad, plus I’m the enemy
They can’t come on and play me in prime time
‘Cause I know the time, ’cause I’m getting mine
I get on the mix late in the night
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back would go on to peak at No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, which was referred to as the Top Black Albums chart at the time. Also, it has since been certified platinum by RIAA.
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