Robbed hit of the week 2/26/18 - Public Enemy's "Can't Truss It"...

"Can't Truss It" - Public Enemy
from the album Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Back (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50

This week's "robbed hit" comes from Public Enemy, one of the most (if not the most) important hip-hop groups of all time. Rappers Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour) and Flavor Flav (William Drayton) founded the group when they were classmates at college. Bringing in a trio of producers (brothers Hank and Keith Shocklee along with Eric "Vietnam" Sadler) named the "Bomb Squad", rapper/spokesman Professor Griff, and DJ Terminator X, they named themselves "Public Enemy" after one of Chuck and Flav's first collaborations. After being the opening act for the Beastie Boys, they released their debut album Yo Bum Rush The Show in 1987. From it they actually scored their first charting single overseas when "You're Gonna Get Yours" slipped in at #88. But with the album reaching the charts, word of mouth spread quickly about their mix of angst and political commentary, and by the time of their second album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, they were getting national attention. The record itself peaked right below the top-40 on the albums chart (#42), while Britain they landed their first top-40 single with "Rebel Without A Pause" (#37 UK). That was followed by their American breakthrough "Bring The Noise", which was featured in the movie Less Than Zero, and went to #32 on the British singles chart and was their first on Billboard's R&B chart at #56. The third release from the record, "Don't Believe The Hype", not only let the group claim their first top-40 R&B hit at #18 (where it also peaked on the British pop list), but also crossed over to their Dance Club Play chart at #21. With five classic hits from that album, demand was off the charts for their third release, Fear Of A Black Planet. The lead single, "Fight The Power", was one of four top-20 R&B hits from the record, which itself reached the top ten on the albums chart.

Public Enemy started the 1990s with their fourth seminal album in a row, Apocalypse '91...The Empire Strikes Back. The first single from the record was "Can't Truss It", written by Chuck D with Bomb Squad members Hank Shocklee and Gary "G-Wiz" Rinaldo, and it was their first to reach mainstream radio as well as the pop chart. The music video compared the horrors of slavery to the repression in the factories...

"Can't Truss It" became Public Enemy's highest-charting hit on Billboard's R&B chart, reaching #9, and stopped right at the halfway mark on Billboard's pop Hot 100 in November of 1991. The track was also their biggest on their Dance Club Play tally, hitting #5 there. On the newly-created Rap Singles chart, the song topped the list for three weeks. Internationally, the record made the top-40 in the UK (#22) and New Zealand (#24), and was a minor hit in Australia at #55. The second single from the set, "Shut 'Em Down", also topped the rap singles chart, and peaked at #26 on the R&B chart, and #16 on the Dance Club Play list, but missed the pop Hot 100 altogether (it did reach #21 in the UK). A third release, "Nighttrain", got to #17 on the Rap Singles chart and #55 in the UK. The Apocalypse '91 album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Rap Duo/Group Performance, which they lost to DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince's song from the other side of rap, "Summertime".

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

And here's Public Enemy appearing on Soul Train...