Maybe I should of passed on this one... but I couldn't help myself right? The legendary Public Enemy collaborating with Ice-T, Cypress Hill, Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, Nas and George Clinton? Well it is to good to be true, as one might suspect there heyday is long behind them! What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down is loosely themed to the pandemic and global issues, asking questions of the audience and our reliance on modern infrastructure but It does little to elevate the music. Where this record falters isn't so much its topicality but the execution of outdated musical ideas.
These instrumentals, handled by C-Doc not DJ Lord, fire up the old formula but lack the sharpness or urgency. Sadly it comes off as exactly what it is, a bunch of older guys who haven't update their ideas, spinning the same tricks with less excitement than ever. Many of the beats house a mediocrity of samples that layer up noisily without the bite and grit of classic Public Enemy attitude. To give it some credit, there is a lot of creativity shaping up the songs to be varied and fleshed out with shake ups between the main loops. This goes out the window on a handful of tracks as out of tune Rock guitars, both rhythm and lead, frequent the record with this tone deaf presence of half baked 80s aethetics rattling off under the raps and drums. Its not flattering.
Chuck D and most his guest are as sharp as ever, his voice sounding aged but the energy is there. Sadly he falls into the trappings of artists from his era, getting hung up on the past with many passing remarks and even a whole song rattling of a list of Hip Hop traditions lost to time. There is little wrong with this expression but it adds to the lack of fresh ideas on offer. Its merits are ironically the resurrection of old songs with varying success. Fight The Power Remix 2020 has some bite as Nas steps on the mic with rhymes sharp as ever. Its home to some of the records best verses but also the worst as YG's flow just doesn't match the energy here. All in all its a tolerable listen but mostly disappointing for failing precisely where you'd guess they might.
Rating: 4/10