 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2015) |
| "Night of the Living Baseheads" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Public Enemy | ||||
| from the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | October 4, 1988[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||
| Studio | Greene Street Studios | |||
| Genre | Political hip hop | |||
| Length | 3:15 | |||
| Label | Def Jam | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | The Bomb Squad[4] | |||
| Public Enemy singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Night of the Living Baseheads" on YouTube | ||||
"Night of the Living Baseheads" is the third single released in 1988 by hip hop group Public Enemy, from their critically acclaimed album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The lyrics deal with the effects of crack cocaine on African-Americans during the 1980s crack epidemic, referring to the slang for freebase cocaine "base" or crack cocaine. The song reached #62 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.[5]
The song uses more samples than any other song on the album, a total of 20 (including the sample of Chuck D saying "Bass!" at the start of the song "Bring the Noise"). The chorus of the song that asks "How low can you go?", refers to a person degrading himself/herself, rather than a dance. The title is a reference to the film Night of the Living Dead, equating people addicted to crack cocaine with zombies.
Radical Afrocentrist, Black Panther and Nation of Islam spokesman Khalid Muhammad is sampled on "Night of the Living Baseheads" opening the song with the words "Have you forgotten that once we were brought here, we were robbed of our name, robbed of our language. We lost our religion, our culture, our God ... and many of us, by the way we act, we even lost our minds."
- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (October 21, 2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate U.S. p. 1226. ISBN 1841956155.
- ^ "Public Enemy - Night Of The Living Baseheads at Discogs". Discogs. Zink Media. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ "Night of the Living Baseheads - Public Enemy | Listen, Appearances, Song Review | AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ "Public Enemy - Night Of The Living Baseheads (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs. Zink Media. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ "Public Enemy | Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 19, 2015.