There's A Poison Goin On

07/20/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Adisa Banjoko

Public Enemy is without a doubt one of the greatest rap groups of all time. Exploding onto the rap scene in 1987, they struck fear into the hearts of White and Black America. Sound-bombing the planet with politically laced rhymes over metallic beats produced by the Bomb Squad, they seemed unstoppable.

A little over a decade later, now dropping their eighth release, There's A Poison Goin On on Atomic Pop, the black fist of the old days seems to have lost its punch. The production sounds like Prof Griff's album, lacking that hard-edged flavor that you're accustomed to. And song titles like "Kevorkian," "Last Mass Of The Caballeros," and "Do You Wanna Go Our Way" sound like great ideas, but are not executed with the lyrical rage and precision of past albums. Public Enemy gave birth to most of today's hip-hop stars. But unfortunately PE's There's a Poison Goin' On sounds like a poor imitation of its former self.