Spike Lee made a movie, Public Enemy made a song, and together they made history. In Lee’s racially-charged film, Do The Right Thing, Public Enemy’s song “Fight The Power” was heard throughout the duration and is often referred to as both the band’s anthem and the movie’s theme. The song opens with a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. and has a verse accusing John Wayne and Elvis Presley of being racist. Aside from being the group’s best single, “Fight The Power” is respected as one of the top and most influential songs in hip-hop history. The film was released on March 20, 1990 and immediately raised a fair amount of controversy with its intense racial subject-matter. One of the characters, named Radio Raheem, simply shows up at numerous parts in the film blasting the song on a boombox. Because it stood as an anthem for such an outcry against racism, it still stands as one of the most controversial and influential songs of the time.

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Public Enemy’s official site