Public Enemy - Nothing is Quick in the Desert

Public Enemy
Nothing is Quick in the Desert
2017
Google Play

This album originally surfaced a few days before July 4th for free on Public Enemy's bandcamp page. Subverting the system is nothing new for Public Enemy, and finding this record on streaming services is going to cause you a bit of a headache. It's odd that they would make the record easily accessible on it's rollout, but then make it tougher to find as time goes on. However, Public Enemy don't really care as long as their message continues to be heard. 2017 very well might be the year of Dad Rap with Big Boi and Jay-Z both releasing new records, but Public Enemy sound just as pissed off as they ever have. After the disappointing Man Plans God Laughs from 2015 Public Enemy seemed to need to re-establish themselves and reset their position. Nothing is Quick in the Desert is more aggressive, more rock centered and more in your face than previous releases with Chuck D spitting hard rhymes and Flavor Flav bouncing in between his breaths. Seeing less of Flavor in headlines certainly helps with the groups mystique. It seemed like you could never get away from Flavor Flav doing something fucking nuts in the public eye and just made anything that Chuck D was trying to do seem a bit silly if Flavor was involved. However on this record, He is in your face and using is hype man status to elevate Chuck D's cutting lyrics. Never fear though, just when you think Chuck and Flavor have elevated themselves past the "kids these days" attitude they manage to sneak in a dig against Kanye and Kim for being more spectacle than substance. It's a stance that is unnecessary and just makes Public Enemy feel dated.

Chuck D displays his lyrical prowess on "So Be It" projecting a fire and brimstone style delivery, but what he says falls a bit flat. Because the delivery and message are so similar by the later tracks it all becomes a bit repetitive. "SOC MED Digital Heroin" a song about getting lost in internet culture and social media breaks it down to Chuck and Flav "just shaking my damn head", a typical old guy response. It is so easy to look at the youth of today and culture as a whole and "shake your head" but it's more valuable to relate and see what you can draw from it. The album almost flows like a DJ's scratching set, short in some points and long in others with the song times ranging from a minute to almost seven minutes. So much of the album is spent just bringing up rappers from back in the day, even more so than "Rest in Beats (Part 1 & 2)" which at the end just mentions dead people for about two minutes. The line between making something culturally relevant and just shaking your fist is so subtle, and Public Enemy seem to fall on the "get off our lawn" side of things even if they don't always feel like they are. Nothing is Quick in the Desert is a nice album and it does feel like it brings Public Enemy back around in some ways, but at times it just feels to dated and to critical of popular culture to make a strong youthful impact. But hey, maybe that't the point anyway.

6.7 out of 10