#15 Public Enemy, 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' (1988)

The second studio album by Public Enemy was intended by the group to be the Hip Hop equivalent of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On,’ an album noted for its strong social commentary on the plight of the African-Americans. This record is where the lines of pigeon-holed genres become blurred for me. By definition, it’s a Hip Hop record; there’s rapping, sampling, beats etc. But at its very core, it’s Punk. Similar to artists like The Clash and Sex Pistols, it’s angry, it’s a call to arms and it’s revolutionary.