New Public Enemy Album Will Feature Beastie Boys, George Clinton & More

Public Enemy has already released two tracks from the album: "State of the Union (STFU)" and the recently-released updated version of "Fight the Power."

Public Enemy has shared the tracklist for their new album What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down. The album will feature guest appearances from Beastie Boys’ Mike D and Ad-Rock, George Clinton, Run-DMC, Cypress Hill, Ice-T, PMD and others.

What You Gonna Do is out September 25. It will be the first album from the group since Nothing Is Quick in the Desert dropped in 2017. This will be the first album under the Def Jam banner since the He Got Game soundtrack dropped in 1998. In a press release, Chuck D talked about the importance of returning to Def Jam, saying:

Cultural Institutions are important. Being an integral part of one is an honor bestowed and to uphold. Public Enemy songs are forever sonic prints in the sands of time. And it’s time—it’s necessary—to bring the noise again from a place called home. Def Jam. Fight The Power 2020.”

The group has already released two tracks from the project: the DJ Premier-featuring "State of the Union (STFU)" and the recently-released updated version of "Fight the Power," which features Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG, and Questlove.

Earlier in the year, Chuck D announced that he was kicking Flav out of the group after a rift over a Bernie Sanders endorsement. That ended up being a hoax. On April Fools Day, Chuck admitted that Flavor Flav was never kicked out of Public Enemy. In fact, Chuck said, “He can’t [be kicked out], he’s a partner. You can’t fire partners. You just walk away from ’em.”

The tracklist for What You Gonna Do can be viewed below.

What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down:

01 - “When The Grid Goes Down” ft. George Clinton

02 - “Grid” ft. Cypress Hill and George Clinton

03 - “State of the Union (STFU)” ft. DJ Premier

04 - “Merica Mirror” ft.. Pop Diesel

05 - “Public Enemy Number Won” ft. Mike D, Ad-Rock, Run-DMC

06 - “Toxic”

07 - “Yesterday Man” ft. Daddy-O

08 - “Crossroads Burning” (Interlude) ft. James Bomb

09 - “Fight The Power: Remix 2020” ft. Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG, Questlove

10 - “Beat Them All”

11 - “Smash The Crowd” ft.. Ice-T, PMD

12 - “If You Can’t Join Em Beat Em”

13 - “Go At It” ft. Jahi

14 - “Don’t Look At The Sky” (Interlude) ft. Mark Jenkins

15 - “Rest In Beats” ft. The Impossebulls

16 - “R.I.P. Blackat”

17 - “Closing: I Am Black” ft. Ms. Ariel