Fight the Power - Ice-T
Yemi Bamiro / BBC Studios
Fight the Power: Under Siege
Explore hip hop’s shift towards social commentary in the 1980s
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Christina Zeiders
Yemi Bamiro / BBC Studios
Fight the Power - Ice-T
Produced in partnership with BBC Music, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World tells the story of hip hop as an organic expression of experience that was unapologetic and empowering as it spoke truth to power and informed a nation through a different lens.
Watch Under Siege on Tuesday, February 14 at 9 pm on WITF TV, or stream it on demand for free now through March 8 using the PBS app.
Authored by Public Enemy’s Chuck D, the four-part series includes personal testimonies of the MCs, DJs, graffiti artists, filmmakers, and politicians who shaped the direction of the genre as it grew from an underground movement in the Bronx to the most popular music genre in the U.S. and the fastest growing genre in the world today.
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In part two of the four-part series, Under Siege explores the 1980s and the birth of hip hop as social commentary during the Reagan era with the emergence of artists like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Ice-T and NWA.
Stream Under Siege on the PBS app for free now through March 8, or watch it on Tuesday, February 14 at 9pm on WITF TV.
As co-founder of Public Enemy, Chuck D played a pivotal role in how hip hop became a platform for political expression and social justice. His music provided lessons in Black history and consciousness while striving to dismantle racial constructs.
“The hip hop community has, from the start, been doing what the rest of media is only now catching up to,” said Chuck D. “Long before any conglomerate realized it was time to wake up, hip hop had been speaking out and telling truths.”
Fight the Power, Public Enemy’s groundbreaking single released in 1989, became an anthem that called for unity against oppression and continues to resonate to this day. It is in the Library of Congress and was named the #2 Greatest Song of All Time in 2021 by Rolling Stone.
Stream Under Siege on the PBS app now through March 8, or watch its television premiere on Tuesday, February 14 at 9pm on WITF TV.
Black History Month programs on WITF are supported by Mid Penn Bank and GIANT.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
