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What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?

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What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
Studio album by
Public Enemy
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2020
Length43:57
LabelDef Jam
Producer
Public Enemy chronology
Nothing Is Quick in the Desert
(2017) 		What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
(2020)
Singles from What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
  1. "State of the Union (STFU)"
    Released: June 19, 2020
  2. "Fight the Power: Remix 2020"
    Released: August 28, 2020

What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? is the fifteenth studio album by American political hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on September 25, 2020, on Def Jam Recordings, making it the group's first album for the label since 1998's He Got Game.[1][2][3] Production was handled by C-Doc, The LBX, DJ Infinite, DJ Pain 1, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Flavor Flav, Johnny "Juice" Rasado, Racer X and Threepeeoh. It features guest appearances from George Clinton, Jahi, Ad-Rock, Black Thought, Cypress Hill, Daddy-O, Ice-T, James Bomb, Mark Jenkins, Mike D, Ms. Ariel, Nas, PMD, Pop Diesel, Questlove, Rapsody, Run-DMC, The Impossebulls and YG.[4] It was supported by two singles: "State of the Union (STFU)" and "Fight the Power: Remix 2020".

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/100[5]
Metacritic76/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
And It Don't StopA−[8]
Clash7/10[9]
Consequence of SoundB[10]
Exclaim!7/10[11]
Kerrang!4/5[12]
NME[13]
Paste8/10[14]
PopMatters7/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]

What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 12 reviews.[6] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 7.6 out of 10, based on 13 reviews.[5]

Reviewing in his Substack-published "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau acknowledged Public Enemy's continued noisy aesthetic and felt engaged by Chuck D's thoughts on "the dependence of everybody's world economy on an information system susceptible to attack from actors who could prove as dangerous as Donald Trump himself". He highlighted in particular the song "State of the Union (STFU)" and "a host of committed cameos" elsewhere.[8]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."When the Grid Goes Down..." (featuring George Clinton)
C-Doc1:31
2."GRID" (featuring Cypress Hill and George Clinton)
C-Doc4:32
3."State of the Union (STFU)" (featuring DJ Premier)
DJ Premier2:54
4."Merica Mirror" (featuring Pop Diesel) The LBX0:08
5."Public Enemy Number Won" (featuring Mike D, Ad-Rock and Run-DMC)
C-Doc5:25
6."Toxic"
Threepeeoh3:11
7."Yesterday Man" (featuring Daddy-O)
  • DJ Infinite
  • Racer X
  • C-Doc[a]
3:03
8."Crossroads Burning (Interlude)" (featuring James Bomb) C-Doc0:12
9."Fight the Power: Remix 2020" (featuring Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG, and Questlove)
Johnny "Juice" Rasado4:57
10."Beat Them All"
  • Ridenhour
  • Snyder
C-Doc2:52
11."Smash the Crowd" (featuring Ice-T and PMD)
C-Doc3:06
12."If You Can't Join Em Beat Em"
  • Ridenhour
  • Snyder
C-Doc0:50
13."Go at It" (featuring Jahi)
  • Ridenhour
  • Ankeney
  • Pacal Bayley
  • Trevor Helt
  • Torman Jahi
DJ Pain 13:21
14."Don't Look at the Sky (Interlude)" (featuring Mark Jenkins) C-Doc0:09
15."Rest in Beats" (featuring the Impossebulls)
3:57
16."R.I.P. Blackat"
Flavor Flav3:35
17."Closing: I Am Black" (featuring Ms. Ariel) 
  • C-Doc
  • The LBX
0:14
Total length:43:57

Note

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

  • C-Doc – bass guitar (tracks 1, 5, 10–12, 15), drums (1, 5), drum programming (2, 10–12)
  • Khari Wynn – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 7, 15)
  • George Clinton – vocals (track 1)
  • B-Real – additional vocals (track 2)
  • Sen Dog – additional vocals (track 2)
  • Uncle Jam – additional vocals (track 2)
  • Alex Grossi – background vocals (track 2)
  • Ron Mancuso – background vocals (track 2)
  • Tom Fletcher – background vocals (track 2)
  • Kevin "KJ" Jacoby – bass guitar (track 2)
  • Johnny "Juice" Rosado – conga, guitar, keyboards, percussion (track 9)
  • Clyde Stubblefield – drums (track 9)
  • Davy J. Snyder – additional vocals (track 10)
  • Eva Rose DeMeno – additional vocals (track 10)
  • Mason DeMeno – additional vocals (track 10)
  • Trevor Helt – bass guitar, guitar (track 13)
  • The Impossebulls – additional vocals (track 15)
  • Easy Mo Bee – drum programming (track 15)

Technical

  • Shawn Franklin – mastering
  • C-Doc – mixing (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 10–12, 15), engineering (10, 12)
  • DJ Premier – mixing (track 3)
  • Threepeeoh – mixing (track 6), engineering (2, 5, 6)
  • Ryan Rickaby – mixing (track 13)
  • Mr. Payback – mixing, engineering (track 16)
  • JP Hesser – engineering (tracks 2, 3, 5–7, 9–13, 15)
  • John Taitano Phillips – engineering (track 2)
  • Skinny Pablo – engineering (track 2)
  • Ronnie Mancuso – engineering (tracks 3, 5)
  • Tom Fletcher – engineering (tracks 3, 5)
  • Alex Graves – engineering (track 5)
  • Headsnack – engineering (track 5)
  • Patrick Flores – engineering (track 5)
  • Racer X – engineering (track 7)
  • Bryan Matheson – engineering (track 13)
  • DJ Pain 1 – engineering (track 13)
  • Rusty Skelding – engineering (track 15)
  • Johnny "Juice" Rosado – remix engineering (track 9)

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
Chart (2020) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 81
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 37
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 100
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[21] 2
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[22] 26

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Aswad, Jem (August 28, 2020). "Public Enemy Return to Def Jam, New Album Due Next Month". Variety.
  2. ^ "Public Enemy announce new album on Def Jam, 'What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?'". DJ Mag. August 28, 2020.
  3. ^ Monroe, Jazz (August 28, 2020). "Public Enemy Announce New Album, Return to Def Jam". Pitchfork.
  4. ^ "Public Enemy share tracklist for new album 'What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?'". NME. September 1, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? by Public Enemy reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?". Metacritic. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? - Public Enemy | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (October 14, 2020). "Consumer Guide: October, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Murray, Robin (September 24, 2020). "Public Enemy - What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?". Clash. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Jones, Okla (September 29, 2020). "Public Enemy Are Mostly in Full Effect on the Rallying What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?: Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Roos, Scott (September 25, 2020). "Public Enemy Continue to Fight the Powers That Be on 'What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?'". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  12. ^ Garner, George (September 24, 2020). "Album Review: Public Enemy – What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Lavin, Will (September 23, 2020). "Public Enemy - 'What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?' review". NME. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Howard, Jacinta (September 24, 2020). "3 Decades After Their Explosive Debut, Public Enemy Are Still the Soundtrack to the Revolution". Paste. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (October 5, 2020). "Public Enemy Ask 'What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?'". PopMatters. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  16. ^ Dolan, Jon (September 25, 2020). "Public Enemy Fight the Power With Passion on 'What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Public Enemy – What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Public Enemy – What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  22. ^ "Public Enemy Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
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