Hip Hop Royalty Public Enemy are set to release a special edition vinyl pressing of  It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in celebration of both the 35th anniversary of the album’s release and the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. The release is part of a series of commemorative events led by Chuck D, including a podcast series and two promised free concerts in Washington DC along with Ice T.

In a new Audible podcast series entitled Can You Dig it? A Hip Hop Origin Story, Chuck D narrates the events surrounding the murder of Cornell Benjamin known as ‘Black Benjie’. Black Benjie was a member of the Ghetto Brothers gang who became known as a peace activist in the Bronx. His killing led to the historic Hoe Avenue peace meeting in 1971. Although no truce was negotiated, it saw a significant decrease in gang violence and set in motion the series of events which would ultimately lead to the birth of hip hop in 1973 at Kool Herc’s now legendary Back to School Party. This event is often cited as the origin of the now beloved genre.

Public Enemy were formed in 1985 by Chuck D and Flava Flav. The pair first met in Adelphi University Brooklyn and released their debut studio album Yo! Bum Rush the Show  in 1987. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back was the group’s second studio album. Released in 1988, it is widely acknowledged as a landmark album in the history of hip hop. In a statement Chuck D described it as taking it ‘further with ‘It Takes a Nation’, approaching it like a rock band. It ended up becoming a part of rap’s evolution from a singles-driven genre into the dawn of rap’s album age’.

It Takes a Nation of Millions was created with an album-listening audience in mind and was designed for cassette tapes, with each half of the album being exactly 30 minutes long. The band did not want any dead air on the cassettes after one half of the album was finished. This cassette led approach equally translates well into vinyl with the new reissue available in either a two or four LP set.

In 2020, the album was ranked number 15 in the Rolling Stones Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the highest ranking of any hip hop album on the list.

In an interview with Mojo Magazine in 1995 Chuck D described It Takes a Nation as 'Years of saved up ideas compiled into one aural missile'.

The Anniversary reissue is available for pre order here.
Can You Dig It? A Hip Hop Origin Story is available on Audible.