“Fight the Power” is a song by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released as a single in the summer of 1989 on Motown Records. It was conceived at the request of film director Spike Lee, who sought a musical theme for his 1989 film Do The Right Thing. First issued on the film’s 1989 soundtrack, a different version was featured on Public Enemy’s 1990 studio album Fear of a Black Planet.
In 1988, shortly after the release of their second album, Public Enemy were preparing for the European leg of the Run DMC’s tour. Before embarking on the tour, film director Spike Lee, who sought to use the song as a leitmotif in his film about racial tension in a Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. He said of his decision in a subsequent interview for Time, “I wanted it to be defiant, I wanted it to be angry, I wanted it to be very rhythmic. I thought right away of Public Enemy”.
“Fight the Power” incorporates various samples and allusions to African-American culture, including civil rights exhortations, black church services, and the music of James Brown. While flying over Italy on the tour, Chuck D was inspired to write most of the song. He recalled his idea, “I wanted to have sorta like the same theme as the original ‘Fight the Power’ by The Isley Brothers and fill it in with some kind of modernist views of what our surroundings were at that particular time.” The group’s bass player Brian Hardgroove has said of the song’s message, “Law enforcement is necessary. As a species we haven’t evolved past needing that. Fight the Power is not about fighting authority—it’s not that at all. It’s about fighting abuse of power.”
As a single, “Fight the Power” reached number one on Hot Rap Singles and number 20 on the Hot R&B Singles. It was named the best single of 1989 by The Village Voice in their Pazz & Jop critics’ poll. It has become Public Enemy’s best-known song and has received accolades as one of the greatest songs of all time by critics and publications. In 2001, the song was ranked number 288 in the “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the RIAA and the NEA. In 2021, the song was ranked Number 2 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Spike Lee produced and directed the music video for this song. Lee opened the video with film from the 1963 March on Washington and transitioned to a staged, massive political rally in Brooklyn called the “Young People’s March to End Racial Violence.” Extras wearing T-shirts that said “Fight the Power” carried signs featuring a number of black icons. Others carry signs resembling the signs used to designate state delegations at a national political convention. Tawana Brawley made a cameo appearance. Brawley gained national notoriety in 1987 when, at the age of 15, she accused several police officers and public officials of raping her. The charge was rejected in court, and she instead was sued for supposedly fabricating her story.
