Although Anthrax had first covered the track in their live set some two years earlier, Chuck D didn’t really take the thrashers seriously, and given the tribal nature of music at the time there was plenty of concern that both groups might lose some of their audience. However, Scott Ian was heavily into Hip Hop and was the architect who made it happen, famously keeping Joey Belladonna the band’s vocalist, completely in the dark literally until Chuck and Flav showed up in the studio. Despite the misgivings, the bands totally hit it off while hanging out together, and once the song was in the can it was an obvious banger, with the tour that followed seeing Public Enemy up the intensity of their live show to match their fellow New Yorkers. It ended up being Anthrax’s biggest hit in the UK, peaking at number 14, and his been a staple of their live shows ever since.

The song standing the test of time is no real surprise, given its undeniable accessibility and solid gold quality, but the fact that both bands are still relevant is no mean feat. Anthrax are set to release their twelfth studio album later this year with the first single, It’s For the Kids showing that, 45 years into their career, they have lost none of their vibrancy. Chuck D, meanwhile, never stops creating: 2025 saw the release of PE’s superb 16th studio album, Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025; this year he released the classy doPE project with John Densmore; then there is the book of Chuck’s art – Livin’ Loud: ARTitation; not to mention everything else he curates, promotes and collaborates in. Chuck may be approaching 66 but he continues to prove that age is just a number.

Check out the gallery below featuring the wonderful package of the limited edition 10″ picture disc. Classic.