Released: April 10, 1990

Featuring: Ice Cube Big Daddy Kane

Songwriter: Chuck D Ice Cube Big Daddy Kane Keith Shocklee Eric Sadler

Producer: The Bomb Squad

[Verse 1: Chuck D]
Burn Hollywood burn, I smell a riot goin' on
First they're guilty, now they're gone
Yeah, I'll check out a movie
But it'll take a Black one to move me
Get me the hell away from this TV
All this news and views are beneath me
So all I hear about is shots ringing out
About gangs putting each other's head out
So I rather kick some slang out
Alright fellas, let's go hang out
Hollywood or would they not
Make us all look bad like I know they had
But some things I'll never forget, yeah
So step and fetch this sh--
For all the years we looked like clowns
The joke is over, smell the smoke from all around

[Chorus]
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn, burn, burn
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood

[Verse 2: Ice Cube]
Ice Cube is down with the P.E
Now every single b- wanna see me
Big Daddy is smooth, word to mother
Let's check out a flick that exploits the color
Roaming through Hollywood late at night
Red and blue lights, what a common sight
Pulled to the curb, getting played like a sucker
Don't fight the power...(gunshot)..the motherf-

[Verse 3: Big Daddy Kane]
As I walk the streets of Hollywood Boulevard
Thinking how hard it was to those that starred
In the movies portraying the roles
Of butlers and maids, slaves and hoes
Many intelligent Black men seemed
To look uncivilized when on the screen
Like, I guess I figure you to play some jigaboo
On the plantation, what else can a ni- do?
And Black women in this profession
As for playing a lawyer, out of the question
For what they play Aunt Jemima is the perfect term
Even if now she got a perm
So let's make our own movies like Spike Lee
'Cause the roles being offered don't strike me
There's nothing that the Black man could use to earn
Burn Hollywood burn

[Chorus]
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn, burn, burn
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn, burn, burn
Burn Hollywood, burn Hollywood
Burn Hollywood, burn, burn

[Interlude: Flavor Flav & Man]
Now, we're considering you for a part in our new production. How do you feel about playing a controversial negro?
Yeah, I'm wit' it. You mean somebody like Huey P. Newton or H. Rap Brown, right?
Well, it's a servant character that shuffles a little bit and sings
Yo, man, what?

[Bridge]
[Chuck] Burn Hollywood
(Burn, burn, burn)
[Cube] Gettin' down with the P.E
(Burn)
[Kane] Hollywood Boulevard
[Cube] Exploits the color
[Kane] Of many intelligent Black men
[Chuck] I smell a riot goin' on
(Burn)
[Chuck] I smell a riot goin' on
(Burn)
[Chuck] I smell a riot goin' on
[Cube] Fight the power *gunshot*
(Burn)
[Cube] Gettin' down with the P.E
(Burn)
(A controversial negro)
(Burn)

[Outro]
[Flav] Yo, man, what?! I'm five-thousand
[Chuck] Hey Cube, Kane, Flav, listen, I hope you ain't wastin' my time. You know how I feel about givin' these movies my money, know what I'm sayin'? I work hard for it
[Kane] Yo, come on, man, it's gonna be dope, man
[Cube] The movie's chill, man, trust
[Chuck] Hey, I'm chill chill, but you know what I'm sayin', I just don't wanna, I can't go for this Steel Magnolia...
[Cube] Be cool, man, it's cool
Ladies and gentlemen, today's feature presentation: Driving Miss Daisy
(No, no, no)
[Chuck] Ah man, just what I'm talkin' about, all this Terms of Endearment... I'm outta here, man, it's bullshit
[Kane] Yo, check it out, man I got Black Caesar at the crib, man, y'all wanna go check that out?
[Chuck] That's the idea. We could have rolled with that from the get-go. I'm with it, Kane
[Cube] F- Hollywood, man

Public Enemy

Public Enemy is one of the most influential and powerful groups in the history of music. They are known for their conscious, pro-Black, politically charged messages from the “hard rhymer” Chuck D mixed with a bit of comic relief from Flavor Flav over sample-heavy production from The Bomb Squad. Along with DJ Terminator X, Professor Griff and the S1W (Security of the First World), Public Enemy released several classic albums and helped globalize hip-hop with their international live shows.

Chuck D and Flavor Flav met at Long Island’s Adelphi University and their first creation was the track “Public Enemy No. 1” while Chuck was working at the radio station WBAU. This song led to Public Enemy officially forming and signing with Def Jam Recordings in 1986, leading them to opening on tour for the Beastie Boys as they supported their classic debut album Licensed To Ill.

PE released a string of critically acclaimed albums, starting with their 1987 debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show, followed by their classic sophomore album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in 1988, Fear of a Black Planet in 1990, and Apocalypse 91…The Enemy Strikes Black in 1991. They also released the anthem “Fight the Power” in 1989 as the theme song for Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing.