New Whirl Odor (2005)

With so many current rappers opting for partying over politics, it's refreshing to hear Public Enemy frontman Chuck D's stentorian voice hectoring, indicting, and pontificating on New Whirl Odor like it was 1989 all over again. As usual, the noisy, intermittently funky beats — not to mention some characteristically zany trash-talking from the irrepressible Flavor Flav — help lodge preachy tracks like ''Check What You're Listening To'' in your memory bank. And what other group would open an album with a spoken endorsement from the Rev. Al Sharpton?