He Got Game is a soundtrack and sixth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 28, 1998, under Def Jam Recordings. It was released as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 film of the same name and was the group's last album for Def Jam until 2020's What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?. He Got Game was produced by members of the Bomb Squad, along with producers Abnes Dubose, Danny Saber, D. R. Period, and Jack Dangers.
The album sold poorly upon its release and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200. Its single, the title track, peaked within the top 20 of the charts in the United Kingdom, where the album peaked at number 50 on the UK Albums Chart. He Got Game was well received by music critics, who praised its melodic sound and Chuck D's lyrics.
Background He Got Game served as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 basketball drama of the same name. A film score of the same name, featuring music composed by Aaron Copland, was also released on April 21.
After a four-year hiatus by the group, Professor Griff and The Bomb Squad reunited with Public Enemy for the album, which features political, sports-derived imagery by Chuck D. According to critic Armond White, He Got Game uses basketball as a metaphor for "the essence of black male aspiration. Disproving the film's suggestion of b-ball as an easy passport out of the ghetto, [Public Enemy] challenge trite assumptions about black luck and skill". The album's production features backup female vocals, church-like chorales, austere beats, strings, and funk samples. The title track overtly interpolates Buffalo Springfield's 1966 song "For What It's Worth," and its vocalist Stephen Stills makes an appearance on the song. It was released as He Got Games only single in May 1998.
Commercial performance He Got Game debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart on May 11, 1998, and sold 46,282 copies in its first week.Farber, Jim. The Next Wave at No.1 'Titanic' Soundtrack Yields to Top Berth to Dave Matthews. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2010-01-08. Despite hip hop music's increased commercial viability at the time, the album had fallen out of the top 100 by July. In an article for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Hilburn opined that its "relatively lackluster showing" with consumers was due to Public Enemy's image and lyrical content rather than the album's quality:
In the United Kingdom, He Got Game peaked at number 50 on the UK Albums Chart, while the title track reached number 16 on the singles chart; it did not chart on the US Hot 100.
Critical reception
He Got Game was well received by music critics.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [ Biography: Public Enemy]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08. In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Scott Poulson-Bryant called the album "dense and eclectic, brilliant at moments but sometimes confusing," and found Chuck D to be "inspired again, coming up with blues poetry for the hoops age." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club felt that, despite occasionally uninformed "lyrical snippets", most of the album has "the sense of urgency and menace that characterized PE's best work ... and the reformed Bomb Squad's sound has expanded in some interesting directions."Phipps, Keith. Review: He Got Game. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim DeRogatis called He Got Game "as hard-hitting as anything PE has done" and said that the group "nods to current tastes with more melodic hooks and less white noise than it has offered in the past." Music critic Robert Christgau credited Chuck D for realizing "the soundtrack concept" and viewed that, although only the Danny Saber and Jack Dangers-produced "Go Cat Go" resembles "the stressful speed of classic PE", the hooks are appropriated "subtly" and "brilliantly". Christgau named it the eighth best album of the year in his list for The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll.
Track listing
Personnel Credits for He Got Game adapted from Allmusic.[ Credits: He Got Game]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
4Kast – backing vocals Leonard Bernstein – conductor Corey Brewer – associate producer Alice Butts – design Chris Champion – engineer Aaron Copland – conductor Jack Dangers – scratching, programming, producer, emax Dolo – engineer Abnes Dubose – producer (Ex) Cat Heads – executive producer Paul Falcone – engineer Gary G-Wiz – producer Reeves Gabrels – guitar Ben Garrison – engineer Gerard Gashkin – photography Rawle Gittens – engineer Rasheed Goodlowe – engineer Bill Green – executive in charge of music Charles Harbutt – engineer Chris Haynes – engineer David Lee – photography Spike Lee – liner notes, executive producer Ken Lewis – mixing
Paul Logus – guitar, engineer, mixing London Symphony Orchestra – performer Ricco Lumpkins – engineer Jonathan Mannion – photography Kathy Nelson – executive producer, executive in charge of music New York Philharmonic – performer Joseph M. Palmaccio – mastering Gordon Parks – photography John Penn II – engineer David Phelps – guitar Philharmonia Orchestra – performer Tony Prendatt – engineer, mixing Mario Rodriguez – mixing Johnny Juice Rosado – scratching Danny Saber – programming, producer Eric "Vietnam" Sadler – production consultant Gary Schultz – producer Shabach Community Choir – choir, chorus Hank Shocklee – producer, executive producer Keith Shocklee – producer Alex Steyermark – music supervisor Ted Wohlsen – engineer Kerwin Young – bass, keyboards, producer
Charts + Chart performance for He Got GameChart (1998)Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 54UK Albums Chart 50US Billboard 200[ Billboard Albums: He Got Game]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08. 26US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 10
References
Bibliography
External links
"Dancing With Mistah D" by Robert Christgau