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students at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York, where Chuck D. (Carlton Douglas Ridenhour) and Hank Shocklee were given the chance to mix tracks for the college station, WBAU, by Bill Stephney, a future Def Jam executive. Together they produced a collection of aggressive rap/hip-hop cuts under the title Super Special Mix Show in January 1983. They were eventually joined by Flavor Flav (William Drayton), a neighborhood friend, and began mixing their own basement hip-hop tapes, primarily for broadcast on WBAU, which included "Public Enemy Number 1", from which they took their name. By 1987 they had signed to Rick Rubin's Def Jam Records and increased the line-up of the group for musical and visual purposes - Professor Griff "Minister Of Information" (Richard Griffin), DJ Terminator X (Norman Rogers), and a four-piece words/dance/martial arts back-up section (Security Of The First World). Calling themselves "prophets of rage," Public Enemy released their debut album, Yo!, Bum Rush the Show, in 1987, but their real breakthrough came with 1988's, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The album took the pop world by storm, reaching #42 (#1 R&B) and being hailed as hip-hop's masterpiece. It eventually sold a million copies, and put Public Enemy on the map for good.



In May 1989, after the group did "Fight the Power," the theme song for Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing, Professor Griff made a racist comment which spurred controversy, but it only served to further elevate Public Enemy's profile as they followed with their first Top 10 album, Fear of a Black Planet (#10 pop, #3 R&B, 1990), which explored the nature of white racism in songs like "Burn Hollywood Burn" and "911 Is a Joke" and called on African-Americans to unite in "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" With an infusion of new rap talent, the group's popularity began to wane after this album and Flavor Flav had run-ins with the law, while Chuck D pursued solo projects. They have since reunited with less than stellar sales results. But their earlier efforts had already established them as one of the premier rap groups of the hip hop era.