Public Enemy — Fight The Power (Full 7 Min. Version)

JUL 01 1989 · 12:00

Public Enemy — Fight The Power (Full 7 Min. Version) (1989) Director: Spike Lee Era: Golden Age Hip-Hop / Late Reagan-Era Civil Rights Resurgence (1989) - Peak year of politically charged rap, coinciding with Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and widespread Black youth activism against systemic racism in urban America. Exceptionally high. This is one of the most historically significant music videos ever produced — a primary source document of Black political culture, Golden Age hip-hop aesthetics, and Spike Lee's artistic vision converging at a pivotal cultural moment. The full 7-minute version preserves the complete sonic and visual statement. Its IMDB rating (7.3), Rolling Stone ranking (#2 greatest song of all time, 2021), Grammy Hall of Fame induction, and ongoing cultural citation make it an irreplaceable artifact for any serious archive of American music, film, or social history. Context: Released in the summer of 1989 against a backdrop of George H.W. Bush's racially charged political climate, the crack epidemic, and urban racial violence, 'Fight the Power' was conceived by Spike Lee as the thematic anthem for Do the Right Thing. The extended 7-minute version captures a full sonic and visual manifesto. The video staged one of hip-hop's most overtly political spectacles: a mass Brooklyn street rally invoking the spirit of the 1963 March on Washington, carrying signs of Black icons including Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson, Marcus Garvey, Angela Davis, and Muhammad Ali. It reached #1 on Hot Rap Singles and was named best single of 1989 by The Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it #2 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The video introduced MTV's predominantly white suburban audience to organized Black political protest aesthetics and hip-hop as a vehicle for civil rights discourse. Director notes: Spike Lee directed and produced the video, which was filmed on April 22, 1989 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn — the same block used for Do the Right Thing. Lee staged a large-scale mock political rally dubbed the 'Young People's March to End Racial Violence,' involving approximately a thousand Black youth extras. The video opens with archival footage from the 1963 March on Washington before transitioning to the staged Brooklyn rally. Lee also appears in the video himself. The video served as a 'thank you' from Lee to Public Enemy for the song's use in Do the Right Thing, according to producer Hank Shocklee. It was the second of two music videos for the song Lee produced; the first used clips from Do the Right Thing. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, Lee's longtime NYU collaborator, is credited on the production.