The music track for “Fight the Power” was created entirely with 21 samples (WhoSampled). The large number of samples overlap so much that they clash and create a sound of aggressiveness and defiance. This goes along with Public Enemy’s black militant stance (Kajikawa 51). Hank Shocklee, the producer of the song and a member of the production group the Bomb Squad, said that the drums had to be urgent and sound like African war drums, “but instead of us going to war, it had to be like we were already winning the war” (Beaumont-Thomas).

Shocklee purposefully made it so that it was hard to find a solid beat among the samples so that people would not get lost in it being something to dance to. He wanted people to focus on the urgency of the drumline which was a symbol of a call to arms (Beaumont-Thomas). The clashing of notes and beats and the lack of a clear key was a strategic separation from an organized sound, which Shocklee equated to passivity. He wanted the resistance in the music to mirror that of a Black Panther rally. The collection of samples come together to create a relentless and confrontational sound, reflecting the power of a large crowd in protest.