The Political Onslaught of Paris’ Sleeping With the Enemy 30 Years Later

Paris, Chuck D's 'roided San Francisco counterpart, is back with his second album Sleeping With the Enemy, two years after releasing his violent, dark, and proud debut, The Devil Made Me Do It.

When it was first released, Sleeping With the Enemy caused quite a stir. Some of the album's material drew disapproval from Tommy Boy Records and Time Warner (luckily, Paris was able to release the record on his label, Scarface Records). The term Bush Killa very well sums up the worst of the stuff that went too far. Everyone knows the plot: Paris fantasizes about killing former President George H.W. Bush. Wow, P-Dawg didn't stop there. The city of Paris was a powder keg in The Devil Made Me Do It, right? Paris was pushed too far between drops, and he removed the safety from all his weapons. To save his bullets for killing police officers, house blacks, and anybody else who was oppressing the Black Man, Paris was careful when he assassinated Bush. In my opinion, Paris' level of anger and violence is excessive. He doesn't come off as a logical Black guy so much as a crazed gunman. If I want to listen to all of that, I'll toss in the Geto Boys CD. When dealing with extreme and gratuitously brutal topics, it's easy to misinterpret Paris' message and label him a biased or racist bigot. Thankfully, after the record’s first half, Paris has fired all of his shots. The second part of the speech finds him settling down and speaking more eloquently on the path forward for black people. After you get over the first anger, you'll hear that Paris shines in this album's second half.

Paris and DJ Shadow collaborated on the production of Sleeping With the Enemy. In 1992, this was seen as politically and militarily radical rap, with a sound inspired by the Bomb Squad. Fantastic bastardization of Bomb Squad here, with a lovely West Coast vibe. Rather than the gloomy, unmelodic soundscapes favored by Immortal Technique and his ilk, I wish political rap tracks were produced similarly. P-Dawg's aggressive character in the album's first half is the only thing I have against it. His brilliant songwriting persists, but I find it challenging to listen to his albums because of his frequent references to needless violence. A black individual killing numerous people doesn't exactly dispel racist preconceptions, especially given that Paris is fighting against racism, prejudice, and black persecution.

If you like political rap or are a fan of Ice-T, Ice Cube, or 2Pac, you should listen to this.