| "By the Time I Get to Arizona" | |
|---|---|
 US promo release | |
| Song by Public Enemy | |
| from the album Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black | |
| A-side | "Shut 'Em Down" |
| Released | January 1992 |
| Studio | The Music Palace, Strong Island |
| Genre | Political hip hop |
| Length | 4:48 |
| Label | Def Jam |
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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"By the Time I Get to Arizona" is a song by American hip hop group Public Enemy from their 1991 album Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black. The song was written by frontman Chuck D in protest of the state of Arizona, where governor Evan Mecham had canceled Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the people voted against its reintroduction.
It was released as a B-side to the single "Shut 'Em Down" in January 1992,[1] but had its own music video. The video was controversial for its depiction of black paramilitaries assassinating Arizona politicians in revenge for King, who was non-violent. Some black activists and King's widow Coretta Scott King condemned the themes of the video. Chuck D and Public Enemy's spokesman Harry Allen defended the video as a fictional revenge for King's assassination.
- ^ "Public Enemy's Lasting Tribute To Martin Luther King, Jr". The Source. April 4, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2020.