Man Plans God Laughs

Man Plans God Laughs
Studio album by Public Enemy
Released July 16, 2015
Recorded 2014-2015
Genre Hip hop
Length 27:55
Label Spitdigital
Producer Gary G-Wiz, Carl Ryder
Public Enemy chronology
The Evil Empire of Everything
(2012)		 Man Plans God Laughs
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Consequence of SoundB−[3]
NewsdayB+[4]
NME6/10[5]
Pitchfork Media6.2/10[6]
Vice[7]

Man Plans God Laughs is the thirteenth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. The album was released on July 16, 2015, on Spotify.[8][9][10]

Background

The title of the album, "Man Plans God Laughs", is a well known English translation of a Yiddish proverb: "Der mentsh trakht un got lakht"[11]as reported in the The Forward[12]and reviewed on Pitchfork.[13]The album was discussed on former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney's Facebook page[14]

The album is a critique on corporate domination of the recording industry, what Chuck D calls a "corporate plantation". According to Chuck D "CBS, RCA and EMI, today's music-biz corporateplantationopolies are Apple, Google and Facebook. The pigs are walking as tall as the men, but it's impossible to say which is which." He adds "I feel like the government controls the media and the people are not being fed the truth. The subtitle for Yo! Bum Rush The Show was 'The Government's Responsible.' Today, it's like 'The Governments Are All Responsible'." He says the album's title 'Man Plans God Laughs' was inspired by legendary basketball player Dr.J (Julius Erving) mentioning the proverb in the documentary about him ‘The Doctor’. Chuck D had narrated the project. He says "When Dr.J said it, he was referring to all his plans for him and his brother, and then his brother passed away. That spoke volumes." Chuck says, "The message I got from that was, 'Stay humble'." It is not known if Chuck D knew the source of the proverb before titling the album. He also included the song 'Mine Again' written ten years earlier about African Americans feeling conflicted about their African roots[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Consequence of SoundB−[18]
NewsdayB+[19]
NME6/10[20]
Noisey[21]
Pitchfork Media6.2/10[22]

Man Plans God Laughs received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70 based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Gary G-Wiz

No. Title Length
1. "No Sympathy from the Devil"   2:50
2. "Me to We"   2:15
3. "Man Plans God Laughs"   2:04
4. "Give Peace a Damn"   3:01
5. "Those Who Know, Know Who"   2:11
6. "Honky Talk Rules"   3:48
7. "Mine Again"   2:12
8. "Lost in Space Music"   2:26
9. "Corplantationopoly"   2:27
10. "Earthizen"   2:27
11. "Praise the Loud"   2:14

References

  1. ↑ "Reviews for Man Plans God Laughs by Public Enemy". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  2. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (2015-07-24). "Man Plans God Laughs - Public Enemy | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  3. ↑ Madden, Michael (2015-07-24). "Public Enemy – Man Plans God Laughs". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  4. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (2015-07-24). "'Man Plans God Laughs' review: Timely statement from Public Enemy". Newsday. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  5. ↑ Louis, Pattison (3 August 2015). "Public Enemy - 'Man Plans God Laughs': Flimsy beats outweigh blistering funk on the Long Island hip-hop titans' 15th album". NME. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon. "Public Enemy: Man Plans God Laughs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  7. ↑ Christgau, Robert (September 25, 2015). "Chance the Rapper and Friends Count Their Blessings: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ Blistein, Jon (2015-07-16). "Public Enemy Navigate Violence, Salvation in 'Man Plans, God Laughs'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  9. ↑ Reeves, Mosi (2015-07-13). "Inside the 'Most Intense Public Enemy Record of the Century'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  10. ↑ Vain, Madison (2015-07-17). "Chuck D finally got to use Rolling Stones' 'Honky Tonk Woman' on new Public Enemy album". EW.com. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  11. ↑ Yiddish proverb
  12. ↑ Forward
  13. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon. "Public Enemy: Man Plans God Laughs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  14. ↑ Cynthia McKinney, Facebook
  15. ↑ http://www.publicenemy.com/album/19/man-plans-god-laughs.html.
  16. 1 2 "Reviews for Man Plans God Laughs by Public Enemy". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  17. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (2015-07-24). "Man Plans God Laughs - Public Enemy | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  18. ↑ Madden, Michael (2015-07-24). "Public Enemy – Man Plans God Laughs". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  19. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (2015-07-24). "'Man Plans God Laughs' review: Timely statement from Public Enemy". Newsday. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  20. ↑ Louis, Pattison (3 August 2015). "Public Enemy - 'Man Plans God Laughs': Flimsy beats outweigh blistering funk on the Long Island hip-hop titans' 15th album". NME. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Christgau, Robert (September 25, 2015). "Chance the Rapper and Friends Count Their Blessings: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Noisey. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  22. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon. "Public Enemy: Man Plans God Laughs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
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