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911 Is a Joke

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"911 Is a Joke"
Single by Public Enemy
from the album Fear of a Black Planet
ReleasedMarch 27, 1990[1]
Recorded1989
Genre
Length3:17
LabelDef Jam
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The Bomb Squad
Public Enemy singles chronology
"Brothers Gonna Work It Out"
(1990) 		"911 Is a Joke"
(1990) 		"Can't Do Nuttin' for Ya Man"
(1990)

"911 Is a Joke" is a 1990 song by American hip hop group Public Enemy, from their third album, Fear of a Black Planet. Solely performed by Flavor Flav, the track became a hit in April 1990 upon its release as a single, reaching number 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and number one on the Hot Rap Singles chart, becoming their second number-one rap chart hit after "Fight the Power".[2] It also reached number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[3] This was due largely to its sales, which were unusually high for the level of mainstream airplay it received; Billboard reported that only one of the stations on its Top 40 panel was playing it.[4]

The song is about the lack of response to emergency calls in a black neighborhood, but specifically references the poor response by paramedic crews and not the police, which is a common misconception regarding the track;[5] the "911" in the title of the song refers to 9-1-1, the emergency telephone number used in North America.[6]

Production

The song was written by Public Enemy member Flavor Flav (who is also the featured vocalist) and producers Keith Shocklee and Eric "Vietnam" Sadler of The Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's production team.[7]

Music video

The official music video, directed by Charles Stone III,[8] is notable for having an appearance from a then-unknown Samuel L. Jackson.[9]

Samples used

Among the samples used in "911 Is a Joke" is Vincent Price's laughter from "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Other samples include "Flash Light" by Parliament, "Misunderstood" by Mico Wave, "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins, "Gottago Gottago!" by Robin Harris, "Devil With the Bust" by Sound Experience, "Feel Like Dancing" by Wilbur "Bad" Bascomb, and "Hit by a Car" and "Singers" by Eddie Murphy. According to law professors Peter DiCola and Kembrew McLeod, if the samples used on "911 Is a Joke" and the other tracks on Fear of a Black Planet had been cleared for copyright under 2010 rates, each copy of the album would have generated a loss of five dollars per album sold, instead of a profit.[10]

Charts

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 64
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 71
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 22
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)[14] 25
UK Singles Chart[15] 41
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[3] 1
US Billboard Hot Rap Singles 1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 15
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 26

Covers and media references

San Francisco alternative metal band Faith No More covered a snippet of the song during several shows in 1990.[16]

In October 1994, the song was featured prominently in the opening scene of "Tasha", an early episode of the Fox police drama television series New York Undercover.[17]

In 1995, English rock band Duran Duran covered "911 Is a Joke" on their Thank You album.[18]

In 2009, The Washington Post ran a story discussing Public Enemy members' visit to a center for homeless and displaced youth.[19] The article referred to the song "911 Is a Joke", but due to a copy-editing error,[20] "911" was printed as "9/11", which some readers[21] took to be a reference to the September 11 attacks. A week later, the Post printed a correction.[6]

On "Epidemiology", a 2010 episode of the NBC sitcom Community, Jeff (portrayed by Joel McHale) is unable to contact a 911 operator during an emergency—prompting him to declare that "Flavor Flav was right".[22]

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (October 21, 2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate U.S. p. 1226. ISBN 1841956155.
  2. ^ "Public Enemy chart information". AllMusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Hot 100 Sales & Airplay" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 24. BPI Communications, Inc. June 16, 1990. p. 90. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  4. ^ Ellis, Michael (June 9, 1990). "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 23. BPI Communications, Inc. p. 85. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  5. ^ Watrous, Peter (April 22, 1990). "RECORDINGS; Public Enemy Makes Waves - and Compelling Music". The New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "A note of hope from voices of experience: Correction". The Washington Post. December 3, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy". AllMusic. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  8. ^ Ducker, Eric. "On the Job Training: Part Five". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  9. ^ Yusuf Jah, Chuck D (1997). Fight The Power: Rap, Race and Reality. Dell Publishing. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  10. ^ McLeod, Kembrew (March 31, 2010). "How to Make a Documentary About Sampling--Legally". The Atlantic online. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  11. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 05 Aug 1990 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 30)". Imgur.com. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl > Public Enemy – 911 Is a Joke" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  13. ^ "charts.nz > Public Enemy – 911 Is a Joke (song)". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "hitparade > Public Enemy – 911 Is a Joke" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  15. ^ "Official Charts > Public Enemy". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  16. ^ "ARTISTS OF THE YEAR | December 1990 | Spin Magazine". faithnomorefollowers.com. 7 December 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Reggie Rock Bythewood (writer); Jace Alexander (director) (1994-10-27). "Tasha". New York Undercover. Season 1. Episode 7. Fox.
  18. ^ "Duran Duran song information". AllMusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  19. ^ Dickson, Akeya (November 26, 2009). "A note of hope from voices of experience: Public Enemy reaches out to homeless youth in D.C." The Washington Post. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  20. ^ Alexander, Andrew (December 11, 2009). "Correction goes viral, blame is misplaced". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  21. ^ Silverman, Craig (December 11, 2009). "Don't Need to Wait, Get the Record Straight". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  22. ^ Karey Dornetto (writer); Anthony Hemingway (director) (2010-10-28). "Epidemiology". Community. Season 2. Episode 6. NBC.
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