Protest 100: Public Enemy – ‘State of the Union (STFU)’

Artist: Public Enemy

Song: State of the Union (STFU)

Album: State of the Union (STFU)

Producer: DJ Premier

Label: Enemy Records

Year: 2020

Notes:
‘Pulled together over the course of a month with producer DJ Premier, the premise of the song, a follow up to Public Enemy’s 2017 release Nothing is Quick in the Desert, is simple, D told American Songwriter. It’s an urgent call to get the president out of office—now.’

“We want to Nixon-ize this dude,” he says. “Nixon didn’t finish out his second term. This guy can just finish the one. Go on back to your casinos, your beauty pageants, and reality TV show. That’s all man.”

‘State of the Union’ started taking form while D was working with Prophets of Rage, the supergroup featuring PE’s DJ Lord, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, and Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Timothy Robert Commerford of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. When roused by the administration, he kept jotting phrases and lyrics into his notebook. Whenever he saw the acronym for SOTU, the president’s annual address, D always replaced it in his head with “STFU,” fusing the track’s persistent call out. ‘Sorry ass motherfucker. Stay away from me,’ just came from when I get into any situation, or near a person, that is toxic,” says D. “It’s easy to say, ‘stay away from me.’”’

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
“If he was nearby in a state of partial dismemberment there’d be lunching sharks in the vicinity”

Lyrics:
Go, go, go, just go
Go, go, go (we have)

Whatever it takes, rid this dictator
POTUS my tail, Ass debater
Prime-time Preemo, rhyme-time crime
Like no other in this lifetime
White house killer, dead in lifelines
Vote this joke out, or die tryin’
Unprecedented, demented, many president’d
Nazi Gestapo dictator defended
It’s not what you think, it’s what you follow
Run for them jewels, drink from that bottle
Another four years gonna gut y’all hollow
Gutted out, dried up, broke and can’t borrow

State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me
State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me
State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me
State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me

Mister, I am the law and you are not
In fact, I’m god, I got a lot
Mister these united breaks takeover come over
Orange hair, fear the comb-over
Here’s another scare, keep them hands in the air
Better not breathe, you dare not dare
Don’t say nothing, don’t think nothing
Make America great again the middle just love it
When he wanna talk, walk y’all straight to them ovens

Human beings of color, yeah we be sufferin’ (come on)

Go, go, go, go, go
Go, go, go, go, go

Better rock that vote or vote for hell
Real generals now, not some USFL
Not a fuckin’ game, I dare not mention his name
Operation 45, yeah it’s the same thing
Sounds like Berlin burnin’, same thing
History’s a mystery if y’all ain’t learning
End this clown show, for real a state bozo
Nazi cult 45 Gestapo

State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me
State of the Union, shut the fuck up
Sorry ass motherfucker
Stay away from me

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.

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