Can't Truss It

Produced by the Bomb Squad and recorded in 1991 during sessions for Public Enemy's fourth studio album 'Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black', the track features Chuck D delivering a historical narrative tracing the roots of Black oppression from slavery through to contemporary America, built over a densely layered, abrasive Bomb Squad production. Released in September 1991 on Def Jam Records as the lead single from 'Apocalypse 91', 'Can't Truss It' reached number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the group's most historically explicit statements, arriving at a moment of heightened racial tension in the United States and drawing immediate critical attention for Chuck D's unflinching lyrical content. The track is regularly cited as one of the most direct and articulate rap recordings to address the legacy of American slavery and its connection to contemporary Black experience, and it remains a key reference point in academic and critical discussions of hip-hop as a vehicle for historical consciousness; its Bomb Squad production is also studied as a late peak of their dense, maximalist sonic approach.