Public Enemy

1 album cover in our archive

Public Enemy is featured in Behind the Covers' archive with 1 album cover from the 1980s. Released on Def Jam Recordings, the artwork sits in the hip-hop tradition. Each cover is documented in our archive with design notes covering collage, political, militant, crosshairs, surveillance, propaganda. Below you'll find the full story behind each Public Enemy cover — designers, photographers, label history, and the visual choices that defined the release.

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy — album cover art

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

Public Enemy's radical collage cover packed surveillance imagery, crosshairs, and militant graphics into a visual manifesto that perfectly captured hip-hop's revolutionary spirit. Designer B.E. Johnson created a chaotic information overload that mirrored the group's dense sonic assault.

Label: Def Jam Recordings
Designer: B
Genre: Hip-Hop
Decade: 1980s

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