Fear of a Black Planet

Released on April 10, 1990, on Def Jam Recordings, Fear of a Black Planet is Public Enemy's third studio album and widely considered one of the greatest records in hip-hop history. It arrived in the wake of a near-dissolution: in 1989, Public Enemy's Minister of Information, Professor Griff, made widely reported anti-Semitic remarks that triggered an enormous public backlash and briefly tore the group apart. When the group reconvened, that embattled energy and sense of cultural siege became the album's raw material.

The album addresses systemic racism, police brutality, media misrepresentation of Black communities, Hollywood's treatment of Black people, and the assassination of Black leaders. The Bomb Squad's production expanded the dense, sample-layered approach of the previous album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, creating a sonic barrage critics described as a "wall of noise" with revolutionary purpose. Notable tracks include "Fight the Power," "911 Is a Joke," "Welcome to the Terrordome," and "Burn Hollywood Burn."

Rolling Stone praised the album as "a deeper, more focused version of the careening rage of Nation of Millions," and AllMusic called it "a remarkable piece of modern art." The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll ranked it the third-best album of 1990. It was eventually certified double platinum in the US, and the Library of Congress later selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 176 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.