Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin': The Authorized Story of Public Enemy [Paperback]

Russell Myrie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2010

Russell Myrie’s Don’t Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin’ is the first authorized biography of Public Enemy, the foremost hip-hop group of all time. With unprecedented access to the group, Myrie has conducted extensive interviews with Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X, Professor Griff, and the Shocklee Brothers, along with many others who form a part of Public Enemy’s legacy. Beginning with the group’s inception on Long Island and working up to the present day, Myrie writes with in-depth detail about the making of each seminal album, including It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and their multimillion selling album, Fear of a Black Planet. Myrie delves into the controversy sparked by Professor Griff’s alleged anti- Semitic remarks, the complexities of PE’s relationship with the Nation of Islam, the group’s huge crossover appeal with white and alternative music audiences in the early nineties, and finally the strange circumstances of Flavor Flav’s re-emergence on reality TV with shows such as The Surreal Life and Flavor of Love. A rare behind-the-music look at the group that fought the power, terrorized the music industry, and was crucial to the development of the hip-hop music phenomenon.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802129943
• ISBN-13: 978-0802129949
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,460,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read with a minor flaw., April 24, 2009

By 

Derrick Johnson (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin': The Authorized Story of Public Enemy (Hardcover)

Whilst I was down town in my local bookshop, killing an hour or two until the cinema opened, I happened to come across this book whilst browsing the music section. Truth to told I was a big PE fan, and until listening to 'Rebel without a pause, I wasn't really down with hip hop. I had no real intention of getting this, but the more I read, the more hyped I was to spend some quality time reading more. I duly copped it, and the best part of two days (it would have been quicker, but little matters like the wife & kids got in the way) devouring it. .I really enjoyed this book. My highlights were the sections that covered their early years, pre PE, how the collective ended up on 'Strong' Island, the paths that led them to hooking up. I especially enjoyed the sections that covered their four great albums: Yo! Bum rush the show, it takes a nation............, Fear of a black planet, and Apocalypse '91. Controversy was never far from Public Enemy then, and it was great to get a insight from the protagonists themselves in their own words, what with the infamous Griff with the Washington Post/Village Voice, to frictions with Def jam, and within the group.
The only flaw for me upon finishing this book is the very reason that it's also a good read. Due to the fact that Russell Myrie had authorized access to the group, he is able to let them tell the story from their own recollection, as opposed to devising arguments to fit the scenario from his own reasoning. But, I think this also hampers his own view point concerning the group. For example, he try to sell the argument that time has proved that 'Muse Sick-n- Hour Mess Age is not as bad an album as some 'critics' would have you believe. Whilst I partly agree with that statement, to me, that album was the moment the group's creative juice fell off. It was also the moment the language, i.e. the swearing, increased, and continued to do so, on future releases, compared to what had gone before. Also a s my last purchase of any PE material was said' Muse Sick', and the chapters that followed, relating to events from 1994 to the present day, weren't as exciting to me as there Golden age, previously mentioned
That aside I really enjoyed this biography, and would recommend it to any/all PE fans

3.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for effort, 1 star for editing, but YES, you should still buy and read this book, March 29, 2011

By 

Jason Seagraves (Saginaw, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin': The Authorized Story of Public Enemy (Paperback)

Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin' is a very interesting chronological history of what is probably the greatest rap group of all time. It starts in the days before P.E. was even P.E. -- before they were even a rap group at all -- and goes all the way up through modern times. Instead of dedicating a more intricate focus on P.E's "greatest years" -- 87-91 -- the author gives virtually every year in the group's history equal coverage. If you're an old-school P.E. fan, you might wish there was more on the making of Yo! Bumrush the Show, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet, and Apacolypse '91, but, as someone who fell out of touch with the group after He Got Game, I actually thought it was interesting to read about P.E.'s lesser-known more-recent albums.

Okay, that's all the good stuff. Now the bad. For one, it is an "authorized" book, so we hear directly from the group members. This has its pros and cons, as alluded to in the other interview. What isn't so good, however, is the fact that the author is clearly a P.E. "super-fan" and not a professional journalist. I applaud his effort, but a quality editor should have required him to run through several drafts before this book was published. It's not that the book is bad and you shouldn't read it; it's that it could have been much better without a lot of the amateurishness that plagues it. The worst example of this is the reverse use of single and double quotes -- sources are quoted in single quotes, with only quotes within quotes getting double quotes. It may not sound like a big deal, but in a book full of quotes, this made it very difficult to read, and is really inexcusable that a publisher would let this go.

In summary: I give the author 5 stars for effort, 1 star for editing, and that works out to an average of 3 stars. By all means, buy and read this book if you're a P.E. fan.