Don't Believe the Hype

"Don't Believe the Hype"
Single by Public Enemy
from the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
B-side	"Prophets of Rage" & "The Rhythm The Rebel"
Released	June 1988[1]
Genre	Political hip hop
Length	5:23
Label	Def Jam Columbia CBS Records
Songwriter(s)	Carl Ridenhour Hank Shocklee Eric "Vietnam" Sadler William Drayton
Producer(s)	The Bomb Squad
Public Enemy singles chronology
"Bring the Noise" (1987) "Don't Believe the Hype" (1988) "Night of the Living Baseheads" (1988)
Music video
"Don't Believe the Hype" on YouTube

"Don't Believe the Hype" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the second single to be released from their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The song's lyrics are mostly about the political issues that were current in the United States at the time of its release. "Don't Believe the Hype" charted at number 18 on the U.S. R&B chart and also reached a high of 18 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1988. Chuck D has stated the song was inspired by the works of Noam Chomsky.^[2]

The B-side includes "Prophets of Rage" and "The Rhythm The Rebel", an a cappella of the opening verse from "Rebel Without a Pause" which was a popular scratching phrase.^[3]

Charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles	21
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles	18
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	17

References

1. Strong, Martin Charles (October 21, 2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate U.S. p. 1226. ISBN 1841956155.
2. "Chuck D Talks Romney, Regrets And Why Public Enemy Are The 'Rolling Stones of Rap'". The Huffington Post. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
3. Smolenyak, Megan. "Don't Believe the Hype; Public Enemy". Rapgenius.com. Retrieved 27 August 2018.