"I’m blowing up the 90's, started tickin’ in ’86" - Public Enemy

"I’m blowing up the 90's, started tickin’ in ’86"

• Public Enemy, By the Time I Get to Arizona (Released: October 1, 1991)

Genius Annotation:

Public Enemy became widely popular and even defined the hip-hop scene during the early 1990s with the release of Fear Of A Black Planet. The year 1986 was when their debut album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, was recorded, to be released by Def Jam in April of the next year.

Chuck could also be referring to the first national Martin Luther King holiday, which was observed in 1986 by a decision of President Ronald Reagan. That same year, Governor Bruce Babbitt decided the same for Arizona.

However, when Governor Evan Mecham succeeded Babbitt in 1987, he nullified Babbitt’s decision, saying that Babbitt, as governor, did not have the authority to declare a paid, state holiday himself.

This post was generated by the Truth2Power bot, a project for MIT's CMS.614 created to archive and discuss hip-hop lyrics that speak truth to power.