It’s not uncommon for a contemporary rapper to say they don’t want to be recording past the age of 40, so where does that leave Public Enemy? Hip-hop artists’ attitudes toward aging puts Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and co. in an inherently awkward position, seeing as they’re now three decades removed from their formation. Fortunately, they can manage. Man Plans God Laughs arrives with a unique set of circumstances. In interviews leading up to the album, the group’s best since 2007’s How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?, Chuck has repeatedly mentioned being inspired by Kanye West (specifically Yeezus), Kendrick Lamar (specifically To Pimp a Butterfly), and Run the Jewels (presumably both albums, because they’re both so great). So, even if Public Enemy aren’t trying to rein in younger generations of listeners, they’re not blind to the merits of the noise those generations are already bringing. That acknowledgment of the substance of today’s rap (explicit in the music when Chuck references Kendrick’s Black Hippy crew, for example) is a development as exciting as any in Public Enemy’s recent timeline. Another exciting development: Compared to the group’s 60- and 70-minute albums, Man Plans God Laughs is refreshingly exacting. It’s just 27 minutes long, with only two of its songs eclipsing the three-minute mark; it’s not a chore to listen to and try to grasp it.
