Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. Building from Run-D.M.C.'s street-oriented beats and Boogie Down Productions' proto-gangsta rhyming, Public Enemy pioneered a variation of hardcore rap that was musically and politically revolutionary.
 
This, their second studio album is considered one of their most commercially successful albums as well as one of the most influential rap albums. By August of 1989, it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after shipments of one million copies in the United States.