How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?

How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???
Studio album by
Public Enemy
ReleasedAugust 7, 2007
Recorded2003–2007
The Mountain
(Anaheim, California)
Genres
Labels
Producers
Public Enemy chronology
Rebirth of a Nation
(2006)		 How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???
(2007)		 Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp
(2012)
Singles from How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???
  1. "Black Is Back"
    Released: 2007
  2. "Amerikan Gangster"
    Released: 2007
  3. "Harder Than You Think"
    Released: 2007
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar
BlenderStarStarStarHalf star
HipHopDXStarStarStarStar
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A−
NME6/10
Pitchfork7.1/10
QStarStarStar
Record CollectorStarStarStarStar
Rolling StoneStarStarStarHalf star
USA TodayStarStarStarHalf star

How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? is the tenth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released August 7, 2007, on Slam Jamz Recordings in the United States. Its release coincided with the 20th anniversary of their career. The album debuted at number 49 on Independent Albums chart, and it received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 71/100 from Metacritic. Music critic Robert Christgau named How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? his second favorite album that didn't make Rolling Stone's Top 50 albums of 2007. In September 2012, the album finally entered the UK chart at number 199, followed by success of the top 5 single "Harder Than You Think" after it became the theme song to the British comedy talk show The Last Leg, which debuted the previous month as The Last Leg with Adam Hills.

The album contains the song Harder Than You Think, which is based on a sample of the song Jesahel presented by Delirium at the Festival di Sanremo in 1972, without citing the original authors of the song, Ivano Fossati and Oscar Prudente: for this reason in November 2023 a legal action was started against Public Enemy by the authors and Universal Records.

Reception

Track listing

  1. "How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???" – 2:36
  2. "Black Is Back" – 2:42
  3. "Harder Than You Think" – 4:09
  4. "Between Hard and a Rock Place" – 0:59
  5. "Sex, Drugs & Violence" (feat. KRS-One) – 3:35
  6. "Amerikan Gangster" (feat. E.Infinite) – 4:03
  7. "Can You Hear Me Now" – 3:58
  8. "Head Wide Shut" – 1:31
  9. "Flavor Man" – 3:44
  10. "The Enemy Battle Hymn of the Public" – 3:24
  11. "Escapism" – 4:53
  12. "Frankenstar" – 3:23
  13. "Col-Leepin" – 3:58
  14. "Radiation of a RADIOTVMOVIE Nation" – 1:10
  15. "See Something, Say Something" – 3:46
  16. "Long and Whining Road" – 4:24
  17. "Bridge of Pain" – 3:07
  18. "Eve of Destruction" – 4:15
  19. "How You Sell Soul (Time Is God Refrain)" – 2:31

Personnel

Credits adapted from Allmusic.

Chart performance

Chart (2012) Peak
position
UK Albums (Official Charts)131
UK Album Downloads (Official Charts)76
UK Independent Albums (Official Charts)16
UK R&B Albums (Official Charts)19

References

  1. 1 2 "How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? - Public Enemy - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  3. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?. Allmusic. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  4. ↑ Dolan, Jon. How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul. Blender. Retrieved January 2, 2010. Archived October 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Udoh, Meka (August 29, 2007). "PUBLIC ENEMY - HOW TO SELL SOUL TO A SOULLESS PEOPLE WHO SOLD THEIR SOUL". HipHopDX. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???". MSN Music: September 2007. Archived from the original Archived December 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine on January 2, 2010.
  7. ↑ Cashmore, Pete (August 29, 2007). How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul. NME. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  8. ↑ McGarvey, Evan (December 6, 2007). How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  9. ↑ Those familiar with their late-'80s classics will be glad to hear them back on form, though it's hard to see this winning over many new fans. [Nov 2007, p.144]
  10. ↑ Bent, Grahame. How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???. Record Collector. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  11. ↑ Christgau, Robert (August 23, 2007). "Public Enemy: How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  12. ↑ Jones, Steve. This week's reviews: Ben, Joc, Emily, Ledisi, Crowns, Lyle & PE. USA Today. Retrieved January 2, 2010. Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ Koslow, Jessica. "Public Enemy's 20 Years in the Game". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 2, 2010.[dead link]
  14. ↑ Chart History: How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?. Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  15. ↑ Christgau, Robert. Critic’s Picks: Robert Christgau’s Favorite Albums That Didn’t Make the RS Top 50. Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  16. ↑ Bovi, Michele (November 25, 2023). "Jesahel di Sanremo 1972 plagiata dai Public Enemy". HuffPost. Italy. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  17. ↑ Freccero, Dario (November 25, 2023). "Musica, Universal sues Public Enemy for plagiarism of Delirium's 'Jesahel'". Il Secolo XIX. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  18. ↑ Credits: How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???. Allmusic. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Chart Log UK - 2012". Official Charts Company. September 8, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Official Album Downloads Chart on 2/9/2012 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 2/9/2012 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart on 2/9/2012 – Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2026.