Released 1988 (1988) Recorded 1987 (1987) Length 3:15 | Format 12"
7"
cassette
CD Genre Political hip hop | |
B-side "Cold Lampin' with Flavor"
"Terminator X to the Edge of Panic"
"The Edge of Panic" | ||
"Night of the Living Baseheads" is the third single released by hip hop group Public Enemy, from their critically acclaimed album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The lyrics deal with the effects of crack cocaine on African-Americans during the 1980s crack epidemic, referring to the slang for cocaine "base". The song reached #62 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
Contents
The song uses more samples than any other song on the album, a total of 20 (including the sample of Chuck D saying "Bass!" at the start of the song "Bring the Noise"). The chorus of the song that asks "How low can you go?", refers to a person degrading himself/herself, rather than a dance. The title is a reference to the film Night of the Living Dead, equating people addicted to crack cocaine with zombies.
Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by Lionel C. Martin. It features MC Lyte as a reporter and Flavor Flav appears as co-anchor of a fictional T.V. news program, PETV. The video shows footage of the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, New York City (After Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). The weekly meetings of the OAAU were held at the Audubon Ballroom and it was at one of those meetings, on February 21, 1965, that Malcolm X was assassinated.) During the video, MC Lyte searches for 'baseheads' and finds them on Wall Street where executives are caught sniffing cocaine, pointing out that drug use is viewed differently among black and white communities. In another scene, Chuck D is captured by the racist, anti-rap group the "Brown Bags". In the middle of the music video, a T.V. commercial is shown of a "beeper tie" which allows drug dealers to appear respectable, and in another scene a reporter investigates a crack house, showing what crack addiction does to families.
Cover versions
In 1996, the song was covered by Terminal 46 for the electro-industrial various artists compilation Operation Beatbox. The group Digital Assassins also did a cover of the song, entitled "Return of the Living Bassheads (Somethin' Really Bad)." This cover was featured on video games such as Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 and BMX XXX. The group Insane Clown Posse also did a cover of this track that was entitled "Night of the Living Bassheads". This cover is to be released for The Mighty Death Pop!'s bonus cover album Smothered, Covered & Chunked.