Another Old Remix I Want to Talk About

Public Enemy - Shut 'Em Down (Pete Rock Remix)
Pete R. drops his usual amazing horn-based beat, with hard drums. If Aretha Franklin has the voice of God, then Chuck D has the voice of man. Perhaps so powerful and meaningful as to be superhuman, but filled with so much emotion and passion, it can't be anything but human. Pete Rock does some adlibs, and it works. He also raps for 20 seconds. Chuck D opens with one of the best, most meaningful, most emotional opening 4 bars ever:

"I testified, my mama cried,
Black people died, when the other man lied"

Damn. Chuck D's passionate delivery mixed with the political message is one of my favorite sounds in music. That white guy with the monotonous flow, of course doesn't have the best God-given voice, but he could learn a little about varying your tone. For example when Chuck says:

"I like Nike, but wait a minute,
The neighborhood supports so put some money in it,
Corporations owe, they gotta give up the dough
To the town or else we gotta Shut 'Em Down"

You can hear the stressing of words, syllables or phrases ("the neighborHOOD"; "Corporations OWE") or the heigthening his pitch during phrases ("I like Nike"; "money in it"). Overall, a lost mix from one of the greatest producers ever and one of the best MC's ever.

"Playin' games with my head,
What the judge said put me in the red,
Got me thinkin' 'bout a trigger to the lead,
No, no, my educated mind say:
'Suckers gonna pay anyway'"