On “Fight the Power,” Public Enemy bring their most densely layered, yet most danceable beat on the entire record. It’s remained one of their most popular songs, judging from streaming success, though the single did not chart when it was released in 1989, and its music video was directed by Spike Lee. The song shows the group leading a protest against police brutality, white hegemonic structures, and Elvis Presley. The song uses the most samples of any track on the album, and all of those musical references are to black artists. Chuck D takes shots at Elvis, John Wayne, and Bobby McFerrin in the same verse, pointing out the cultural appropriation at work in Presley’s rock n’ roll and his black singing voice. When Presley debuted, his vocal range was huge and he grabbed from rhythm and blues, blues, and western music to make a distinct sound to where listeners didn’t know if he was black or white (Brackett, 111). Chuck D didn’t see this as Presley synthesizing different musical influences to create a new sound, but as Presley aping black music to become one of the most well-known rock n’ roll artists rather than Chuck Berry or Little Richard: “Elvis was a hero to most/ But he never meant shit to me you see/ Straight up racist that sucker was/ Simple and plain.”
In song and music video, Flavor Flav plays the role of hype man, always by Chuck D’s side, emphasizing his words at the end of biting lines and wearing a giant clock around his neck. The message: “it’s not just time to rap about it, now it’s time to take action.” Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad is in full Black Panther get-up and take center stage during a few moments in the video, dancing in a strict, coordinated style. The group parades through the streets of Brooklyn with a crowd of hundreds holding signs, posters, and pictures of black revolutionaries with them. In some ways the instrumental sounds the most New York of any on the album. The jangly guitar used evokes the disco of early hip hop, local artists like Kurtis Blow and Afrika Bambaataa are sampled, and the breakbeat with “come on get down” sung behind it urges the listener to dance. “Fight the Power” doesn’t only strike issue with Presley, though because McFerrin is also jabbed for his optimism and ignorance as Chuck D references “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Chuck D never wants to shy away from issues, but instead fight back so directly as to incite violence in speech if not action. “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is the whitening of black art that Public Enemy so despises, and as long as they’re attempting to fight the Power, black art must fall in line with their ideology.