Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. Building from Run-D.M.C.'s street-oriented beats and Boogie Down Productions' proto-gangsta rhyming, Public Enemy pioneere

On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during

Whodini was among the very first hip-hop groups to cultivate a high-profile national following for hip-hop music and made significant inroads on Urban radio. As they were contemporaries of other hip-hop groups such as the Fat Boys, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa, they