The video for "By the Time I Get to Arizona" aired on MTV only one time in 1991. But its vision of violent retribution in the face of government callousness kicked over the coffee table of America's polite conversations about race. On November 6, 1990, the people of Arizona voted down a proposal to create a state holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by a margin of 17,000 votes. The vote came two years after then-Governor Evan Mecham cancelled MLK Day, saying, "I guess King did a lot for the colored people, but I don't think he deserves a national holiday."
Public Enemy's response, "By the Time I Get to Arizona," bubbled over with frustration, contempt, and wit, as legendary firebrand Chuck D took aim at the citizens of Arizona and, Mecham in particular: "The cracker over there/He try to keep it yesteryear/The good ol' days/The same ol' ways/That kept us dyin'." Says Chuck, "I'm a firm believer that hip-hop can change the world and make statements like Bob Marley."
He recorded it with producer Gary G-Wiz for fourth album Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black. After the platinum success of 1990's Fear of a Black Planet and the "Fight the Power" single, PE's legendary production crew the Bomb Squab went on hiatus. Public Enemy was looking for a new direction when current events and the more stripped-down beats of G-Wiz and the Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk stepped in to provide it. Built around a slowed-down Mandrill bassline, the beat to "Arizona" was both world-weary and slick — at least until broken by an apocalyptic 45-second bridge featuring a Jackson 5 organ sample and background screams that evoke civil rights protesters calling from the grave.
The video stepped up the rhetoric, recreating '60s-era visions of civil rights protestors being beaten and Dr. King being humiliated — culminating in Chuck D detonating a car bomb that assassinates Mecham. For their depiction of blowing up the Governor, P.E. was reviled throughout the mainstream media, including being scrutinized on an episode of Nightline, where columnist Clarence Page said the video was "the exact opposite of the message that Martin Luther King died for." However, Chuck's message spread: The NFL pulled the 1993 Super Bowl from Tempe, Arizona, and thousands of conventions and tourists followed suit. It's estimated the state lost $350 million in revenue before voters reconsidered the referendum in a 1993 vote, re-instating the King holiday...
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Evan Serpick @'SPIN'
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