Public Enemy Release Surprise New Album ‘Nothing Is Quick in the Desert’
Public Enemy surprise-released their new album, Nothing Is Quick in the Desert, which is available as a free download via the outfit’s Bandcamp through midnight ET on July 4th.
The 13-track album features guest appearances from Ice-T, PMD of EPMD, Easy Mo Bee, Sammy Vegas and Solé. Longtime collaborator David “CDOC” Snyder produced the record, with help from Stetsasonic’s Daddy-O, DJ Pain 1, Mike Redman, Dejuan Boyd, JP Hesser and Public Enemy‘s Professor Griff and DJ Lord.
“‘Nothing Is Quick In The Desert‘ is a saying I use when the average person looks at the record industry,” Chuck D said in a statement. “It looks dead like a desert. But there’s plenty of life in the desert when one is educated on what they see and hear. There, a cactus absorbs and stores water deep in its root, taken from the air itself and certain creatures thrive in that dry heat whereas the average cannot. It pays to be above average (or well below it) in the desert for survival. The music industry is similar in that analogy. It’s still in motion, it just needs redefinition.”
Chuck D compared Public Enemy’s approach to Nothing Is Quick to how the Beastie Boys made Paul’s Boutique and Ice Cube made Death Certificate. He noted the album’s blend of social messages with hip-hop production designed for a live performance. “The sonics are super enough to move a stadium of sports fans and the beat-switching scent of crate digging bleeds shadow-like in the sound,” he said. He later added: “Today, important things that are said must also be heard – especially in the ‘desert,’ a place where a breath of fresh air is wished upon and water is prayed for.”
The Spanish site Binaural first reported the existence of Nothing Is Quick last weekend, prompting HipHopDX to reach out to Chuck D for confirmation. The rapper verified the impending release of Nothing Is Quick In the Desert via a simple “yes” text message.
Nothing Is Quick in the Desert marks Public Enemy’s 14th studio album and follows their 2015 effort, Man Plans God Laughs.
In 2016, Chuck D and Public Enemy’s DJ Lord co-founded the supergroup Prophets of Rage with members of Cypress Hill and Rage Against the Machine. The group released their debut EP, The Party’s Over, that same year and will release their self-titled full-length September 15th. Prophets of Rage announced the LP with a video for “Unfuck the World” directed by Michael Moore.
Nothing Is Quick In the Desert Track List
1. “Nothing Is Quick In The Desert”
2. “sPEak!”
3. “Yesterday Man”
4. “Exit Your Mind”
5. “Beat Them All”
6. “Smash The Crowd”
7. “If You Can’t Join Em Beat Em”
8. “So Be It”
9. “SOC MED Digital Heroin”
10. “Terrorwrist”
11. “Toxic”
12. “Sells Like Teens Hear It”
13. “Rest In Beats Pts 1 & 2”