# Public Enemy — Fight the Power

Public Enemy’s Fight the Power (1989) appears on 2 of our lists — Golden Age Hip-Hop and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 1 in Golden Age Hip-Hop. Every verdict, in full.

- **Released:** 1989
- **Label:** Motown / Def Jam
- **On:** Golden Age Hip-Hop and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- **ISRC:** USDJ29000034
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Artist:** [Public Enemy](https://waxonia.com/artist/public-enemy/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/public-enemy--fight-the-power/

## What 2 lists say

### No. 1 in [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/)

The Bomb Squad layered dozens of samples into something closer to protest collage than a beat. Still the most confrontational record ever to become a genuine popular hit.

### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/)

The densest production in rap attached to the least negotiable lyric. Thirty-six years on, no record has managed to be this loud and this precise at once.

## Analysis

10 sections, the first drop at 0:09, 3% of the way in, 23% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 103.4 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 3.4 dB — compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- **Length:** 5:18

- `0:00` A · **intro**, sung — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, vocals
- `0:19` B · **build** (bar 9), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `0:36` B · **lift** (bar 16), sung — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:05` B · **breakdown** (bar 28), sung — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `1:49` B · **lift** (bar 48), sung — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `2:37` B · **build** (bar 68), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `3:33` C · **peak** (bar 92), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, vocals, other
- `3:53` D · **breakdown** (bar 101), sung — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `4:13` E · **breakdown** (bar 109), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass
- `4:27` D · **lift** (bar 115), sung — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, vocals

**Drop** at 0:09 (bar 4). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Public%20Enemy%20Fight%20the%20Power) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mmo3HFa2vjg)

---

Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.