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Friday Funk #38 – ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ by Public Enemy
Friday Funk #38 – ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ by Public Enemy
Friday Funk #38 – ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ by Public Enemy
The 1980s saw the rise of sampling after DJs and MCs had helped to birth hip-hop in the early ’70s. By 1990, sampling technology was fit for the imagination of Public Enemy’s production group, The Bomb Squad. ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ was one of many imaginative sound collages by Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler, and Keith Shocklee, who used a treasure trove of others’ recordings to create something entirely new. It was fitting that one of rap’s most politically charged yet thrillingly fun groups were big James Brown fans. Public Enemy managed a rare musical feat in sounding furious yet danceable.
‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ takes its title from a comparatively melancholy Willie Hutch tune from 1973. The Public Enemy track was written by Shocklee, Sadler, and Chuck D (credited as his real name, C. Ridenhour), as were nearly all of the tracks on Fear of a Black Planet. Public Enemy envision a then-futuristic 1995 where black people unite: “In 1995, you’ll twist to this / As you raise your fist to the music / United we stand, yes divided we fall / Together we can stand tall”.
As well as including self-referential vocal samples from ‘Rebel Without a Pause’, ‘Bring the Noise’, and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’, P.E. dip into their bag of funk to sample Brown, George Clinton (‘Atomic Dog’, from Clinton’s first solo album, Computer Games and almost ubiqutious in ’90s hip-hop), Prince, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, and Sly & The Family Stone. Brown, Clinton, and Sly & The Family Stone are among the artists namechecked as influences in the album’s liner notes.
In the first verse, Flavor Flav says, “Papa got a brand new funk." In the final verse, Chuck raps, “Brothers that try to work it out / They get mad, revolt, revise, realise / They're super bad”, referencing Brown’s 1971 hit. Those lines (along with the earlier “Talking, no walking, driving, arriving and stylin’ / Tell ’em – soon you’ll see what I’m talking about”) are an example of Chuck’s willingness to change his flow as he jumps on and offbeat, adding extra fidgetiness to the music. Flav's interjections throughout recall the skittery nature of Brown's lines and improvised grunts. The One is emphasised throughout the song (listen to where the piano phrase starts with the higher note); this is pure James Brown.
The chorus samples Bobby Byrd’s “Get involved!” from Brown’s classic ‘Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved’. Chuck trades vocals with Byrd as if they were in the studio together. The nod to Redding is more subtle, borrowing his line, “We’re gonna do a song that you never heard before.”
Sly Stone’s cry of “Yaaa!” from ‘Sing a Simple Song’ is brilliantly looped and rings on each beat of certain bars, reimagined into something like a hard-hit keyboard chord or blast of horns.
Rivalling that Sly cry for the most creative sample in the song is Prince’s wailing guitar. Lifted from ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, a Prince and The Revolution track from Purple Rain OST (1984), the original guitar was Prince letting loose in the outro; never intended to be a main component of a structured song. It provides much of the dissonance in P.E.’s track, jarring with the repetitive bass’s few notes and Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s vocal tones. The drums and bass (from ‘Atomic Dog’) are the only elements that stay steady.
P.E. also lift a scratch effect from ‘Is It Live’, a 1986 song by Run-DMC, who get a shoutout in the liner notes for their “show inspiration”. P.E. also name as “influential aspirations” Muhammad Ali and Last Poets, among others.
Chuck D made every Public Enemy song sound important. His unmistakable baritone gives power to every line. Chuck knew how to use space and rhythm for maximum impact. In the last verse, there’s a tantalising wait after “But one day...” before the words you suspect are coming back, which hit heavier after the pause: “Brothers gonna work it out.”
The album named its “lyrical inspiration”: “Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Kane, Melle Mel, L.L. Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Willie Dee Rakim, KRS-One”. While Daddy O is less celebrated than the rest, these rappers (along with Chuck) have since been recognised as some of the greats.
During the outro, Chuck steps away and lets The Bomb Squad's beat shine, with Prince's shrieking guitar taking centre stage.
The 1980s saw the rise of sampling after DJs and MCs had helped to birth hip-hop in the early ’70s. By 1990, sampling technology was fit for the imagination of Public Enemy’s production group, The Bomb Squad. ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ was one of many imaginative sound collages by Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler, and Keith Shocklee, who used a treasure trove of others’ recordings to create something entirely new. It was fitting that one of rap’s most politically charged yet thrillingly fun groups were big James Brown fans. Public Enemy managed a rare musical feat in sounding furious yet danceable.
‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ takes its title from a comparatively melancholy Willie Hutch tune from 1973. The Public Enemy track was written by Shocklee, Sadler, and Chuck D (credited as his real name, C. Ridenhour), as were nearly all of the tracks on Fear of a Black Planet. Public Enemy envision a then-futuristic 1995 where black people unite: “In 1995, you’ll twist to this / As you raise your fist to the music / United we stand, yes divided we fall / Together we can stand tall”.
As well as including self-referential vocal samples from ‘Rebel Without a Pause’, ‘Bring the Noise’, and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’, P.E. dip into their bag of funk to sample Brown, George Clinton (‘Atomic Dog’, from Clinton’s first solo album, Computer Games and almost ubiqutious in ’90s hip-hop), Prince, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, and Sly & The Family Stone. Brown, Clinton, and Sly & The Family Stone are among the artists namechecked as influences in the album’s liner notes.
In the first verse, Flavor Flav says, “Papa got a brand new funk." In the final verse, Chuck raps, “Brothers that try to work it out / They get mad, revolt, revise, realise / They're super bad”, referencing Brown’s 1971 hit. Those lines (along with the earlier “Talking, no walking, driving, arriving and stylin’ / Tell ’em – soon you’ll see what I’m talking about”) are an example of Chuck’s willingness to change his flow as he jumps on and offbeat, adding extra fidgetiness to the music. Flav's interjections throughout recall the skittery nature of Brown's lines and improvised grunts. The One is emphasised throughout the song (listen to where the piano phrase starts with the higher note); this is pure James Brown.
The chorus samples Bobby Byrd’s “Get involved!” from Brown’s classic ‘Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved’. Chuck trades vocals with Byrd as if they were in the studio together. The nod to Redding is more subtle, borrowing his line, “We’re gonna do a song that you never heard before.”
Sly Stone’s cry of “Yaaa!” from ‘Sing a Simple Song’ is brilliantly looped and rings on each beat of certain bars, reimagined into something like a hard-hit keyboard chord or blast of horns.
Rivalling that Sly cry for the most creative sample in the song is Prince’s wailing guitar. Lifted from ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, a Prince and The Revolution track from Purple Rain OST (1984), the original guitar was Prince letting loose in the outro; never intended to be a main component of a structured song. It provides much of the dissonance in P.E.’s track, jarring with the repetitive bass’s few notes and Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s vocal tones. The drums and bass (from ‘Atomic Dog’) are the only elements that stay steady.
P.E. also lift a scratch effect from ‘Is It Live’, a 1986 song by Run-DMC, who get a shoutout in the liner notes for their “show inspiration”. P.E. also name as “influential aspirations” Muhammad Ali and Last Poets, among others.
Chuck D made every Public Enemy song sound important. His unmistakable baritone gives power to every line. Chuck knew how to use space and rhythm for maximum impact. In the last verse, there’s a tantalising wait after “But one day...” before the words you suspect are coming back, which hit heavier after the pause: “Brothers gonna work it out.”
The album named its “lyrical inspiration”: “Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Kane, Melle Mel, L.L. Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Willie Dee Rakim, KRS-One”. While Daddy O is less celebrated than the rest, these rappers (along with Chuck) have since been recognised as some of the greats.
During the outro, Chuck steps away and lets The Bomb Squad's beat shine, with Prince's shrieking guitar taking centre stage.
The 1980s saw the rise of sampling after DJs and MCs had helped to birth hip-hop in the early ’70s. By 1990, sampling technology was fit for the imagination of Public Enemy’s production group, The Bomb Squad. ‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ was one of many imaginative sound collages by Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler, and Keith Shocklee, who used a treasure trove of others’ recordings to create something entirely new. It was fitting that one of rap’s most politically charged yet thrillingly fun groups were big James Brown fans. Public Enemy managed a rare musical feat in sounding furious yet danceable.
‘Brothers Gonna Work It Out’ takes its title from a comparatively melancholy Willie Hutch tune from 1973. The Public Enemy track was written by Shocklee, Sadler, and Chuck D (credited as his real name, C. Ridenhour), as were nearly all of the tracks on Fear of a Black Planet. Public Enemy envision a then-futuristic 1995 where black people unite: “In 1995, you’ll twist to this / As you raise your fist to the music / United we stand, yes divided we fall / Together we can stand tall”.
As well as including self-referential vocal samples from ‘Rebel Without a Pause’, ‘Bring the Noise’, and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’, P.E. dip into their bag of funk to sample Brown, George Clinton (‘Atomic Dog’, from Clinton’s first solo album, Computer Games and almost ubiqutious in ’90s hip-hop), Prince, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, and Sly & The Family Stone. Brown, Clinton, and Sly & The Family Stone are among the artists namechecked as influences in the album’s liner notes.
In the first verse, Flavor Flav says, “Papa got a brand new funk." In the final verse, Chuck raps, “Brothers that try to work it out / They get mad, revolt, revise, realise / They're super bad”, referencing Brown’s 1971 hit. Those lines (along with the earlier “Talking, no walking, driving, arriving and stylin’ / Tell ’em – soon you’ll see what I’m talking about”) are an example of Chuck’s willingness to change his flow as he jumps on and offbeat, adding extra fidgetiness to the music. Flav's interjections throughout recall the skittery nature of Brown's lines and improvised grunts. The One is emphasised throughout the song (listen to where the piano phrase starts with the higher note); this is pure James Brown.
The chorus samples Bobby Byrd’s “Get involved!” from Brown’s classic ‘Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved’. Chuck trades vocals with Byrd as if they were in the studio together. The nod to Redding is more subtle, borrowing his line, “We’re gonna do a song that you never heard before.”
Sly Stone’s cry of “Yaaa!” from ‘Sing a Simple Song’ is brilliantly looped and rings on each beat of certain bars, reimagined into something like a hard-hit keyboard chord or blast of horns.
Rivalling that Sly cry for the most creative sample in the song is Prince’s wailing guitar. Lifted from ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, a Prince and The Revolution track from Purple Rain OST (1984), the original guitar was Prince letting loose in the outro; never intended to be a main component of a structured song. It provides much of the dissonance in P.E.’s track, jarring with the repetitive bass’s few notes and Chuck D and Flavor Flav’s vocal tones. The drums and bass (from ‘Atomic Dog’) are the only elements that stay steady.
P.E. also lift a scratch effect from ‘Is It Live’, a 1986 song by Run-DMC, who get a shoutout in the liner notes for their “show inspiration”. P.E. also name as “influential aspirations” Muhammad Ali and Last Poets, among others.
Chuck D made every Public Enemy song sound important. His unmistakable baritone gives power to every line. Chuck knew how to use space and rhythm for maximum impact. In the last verse, there’s a tantalising wait after “But one day...” before the words you suspect are coming back, which hit heavier after the pause: “Brothers gonna work it out.”
The album named its “lyrical inspiration”: “Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Kane, Melle Mel, L.L. Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Willie Dee Rakim, KRS-One”. While Daddy O is less celebrated than the rest, these rappers (along with Chuck) have since been recognised as some of the greats.
During the outro, Chuck steps away and lets The Bomb Squad's beat shine, with Prince's shrieking guitar taking centre stage.