The other day I found myself watching "Down Cemetery Road," a show on Apple TV based on a Mick Herron novel (yeah, the Slow Horses guy -- and the jury's still out on whether or not I actually like the show), and as the episode ended and the credits ran, I heard a song I haven't heard in ages. It had been years, but I recognized it! It was Tricky covering "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" by Public Enemy. Tricky's version is called "Black Steel" and it's from his 1995 debut album called "Maxinquaye." Which I purchased on CD (and loved) right when it came out. Yeah, that's 30 years ago, friends.
If you don't know who Tricky is, he's an amazing musician and rapper from the UK, and was an early member of Massive Attack. If you don't know who Public Enemy is, well, that one's on you. For his cover, Tricky takes a seminal track from an important era of hip hop and makes it his own. Reimagining it around a unique drum sample and adding live guitar, with vocals somewhere between rapping and singing. The first time I heard it, I didn't even realize it was a cover of a Public Enemy song. You might even assume, like I did, that the song was titled "I got a Letter" based on how the original lyrics are used.
So, yeah. This was an amazingly wonderful and weird track when I first heard it back in 1995, and it stuck with me. And so, to stumble across it in the credits of TV show I happen to be watching….years later….was a wonderful and weird surprise.
The other day I found myself watching "Down Cemetery Road," a show on Apple TV based on a Mick Herron novel (yeah, the Slow Horses guy -- and the jury's still out on whether or not I actually like the show), and as the episode ended and the credits ran, I heard a song I haven't heard in ages. It had been years, but I recognized it! It was Tricky covering "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" by Public Enemy. Tricky's version is called "Black Steel" and it's from his 1995 debut album called "Maxinquaye." Which I purchased on CD (and loved) right when it came out. Yeah, that's 30 years ago, friends.
If you don't know who Tricky is, he's an amazing musician and rapper from the UK, and was an early member of Massive Attack. If you don't know who Public Enemy is, well, that one's on you. For his cover, Tricky takes a seminal track from an important era of hip hop and makes it his own. Reimagining it around a unique drum sample and adding live guitar, with vocals somewhere between rapping and singing. The first time I heard it, I didn't even realize it was a cover of a Public Enemy song. You might even assume, like I did, that the song was titled "I got a Letter" based on how the original lyrics are used.
So, yeah. This was an amazingly wonderful and weird track when I first heard it back in 1995, and it stuck with me. And so, to stumble across it in the credits of TV show I happen to be watching….years later….was a wonderful and weird surprise.
Find the song here on Youtube or embedded above.
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