Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” is from their 1991 fourth album Apocalypse 91…The Enemy Strikes Back. The group’s sound changed out of necessity for this album because the original productions were stolen. The Bomb Squad, Gary G Whiz and The Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk gave the group funk-oriented sonics that were less frantic and used more live instruments. “Can’t Truss It” was about slavery and how the slavemaster’s doctrine to separate Africans proliferates in contemporary America. The video featured an auction block, plantation, cotton field, modern-day factory and the police. The brutalities of slavery were juxtaposed against police misconduct and the clip ends with a lynching. MTV played the video for “Can’t Truss It” more than any other Public Enemy video. Apocalypse 91 went platinum in less than two months and “Can’t Truss It” did well on the charts. Their fourth outing was critically acclaimed and had the same powerful attacks on racism as It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear Of A Black Planet. Public Enemy released their DJ-Premier produced single “State Of The Union (STFU)” criticizing Donald Trump in the summer of 2020. [youtube id=”am9BqZ6eA5c”]
