Songs That Shook the Planet Audiobook By Chuck D cover art

Songs That Shook the Planet

Words + Music, Vol. 26

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Songs That Shook the Planet

By: Chuck D
Narrated by: Chuck D
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $6.95

Buy for $6.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Hip-hop pioneer Chuck D, the legendary lyricist and cofounder of Public Enemy, takes listeners on an extraordinary journey through politically and socially conscious music. Part history lesson and part memoir, Songs That Shook the Planet spans genres and decades to call out the brave artists who continue to inspire necessary change in the world.

You’ll hear the stories behind legendary tracks as well as the songs themselves, performed by Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Too Short, and more. Listening is both empowering and haunting; too often the artists paid a shocking price for their ability to articulate injustice so forcefully. Chuck D makes the experience even more revelatory by adding his own reminiscences about how the songs - many heard on the record player at home that his mother kept spinning with a stunning range of music - influenced his early life and his own career as an agent of change.

Songs That Shook the Planet reintroduces listeners to indelible songs from artists who literally put their lives on the line to speak truth to power and provides a soundtrack of civil uprising that is perhaps even more powerful and relevant today.

Songs That Shook the Planet was conceived, written, and produced, by Chuck D & Lorrie Boula as the latest installment of Audible’s Words + Music franchise, with additional writing by Arthur Turnbull and Gia'na M.Garel.

©2021 Audible Originals LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC.
Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Inspiring Thought-Provoking Funny
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

About the Creator and Performer

Chuck D is a primary architect of the movement that revolutionized rap as a means of serving truth to power. He is co-founder of Public Enemy, writing the lyrics behind anthems such as "Fight the Power," "By the Time I Get to Arizona," "Bring the Noise," and "State of the Union (STFU)" while establishing a new voice of Black-centered activism.
Critically lauded, Chuck D is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, one of XXL’s top 20 MCs of all time, a best-selling author (This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History), and a preserved member of The Library of Congress (Fear of a Black Planet). He continues to make work that moves us forward. From his long-running RAPstation.com website to founding music groups like Prophets of Rage, Chuck D embodies the ideal of hip-hop as activism.

Featured Article: From the Queen of Soul to the Purple One, Hear the Stories of Black Musicians and Artists Who Broke Boundaries


This Black History Month—and every day of the year—we're shining a light on artists and thinkers who demonstrate the boundless depths of Black creativity, joy, and love. We've gathered a list of memoirs by and biographies about artists who totally upended the expectations of a white-dominated field and crafted something entirely their own, making history and changing lives as a result.

What listeners say about Songs That Shook the Planet

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,434
  • 4 Stars
    303
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,365
  • 4 Stars
    194
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,340
  • 4 Stars
    205
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative

A brief glimpse of how some of the greatest songs were influenced by what was happening at that time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Really cool listen

Cool history lesson with some great songs, appreciated this quick book, good mix of talking and music

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

Thoughtful, informative and entertaining. This book highlights the soundtrack of my life. Very well done.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classicly Influetial

This is the first audio book I've listened to back to back three times. Chuck D is so entertainingly knowledgeable. Just loved this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Truly wonderful

Chuck D does it again beautiful documentary. very informative and. it brings back so many memories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this documentary.

I grew up listening and enjoying some of these artists with zero understanding of the significance and history associated with it. I now appreciate the history, culture and music even more now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good, but could have been better!

First I have to start by giving this praise. This was definitely a worth it listen to and I also feel a needed tool in our society. I give many kudos to the writers, producers and to Chuck D for coming up with this idea and seeing it to fruition. So many people in our society, different races and classes often don't understand music and the art behind it and explanations like this can really educate. It was a great informative listen and I enjoyed it, I was captivated and will probably listen to it again. It is also something I want my kids to listen to, to educate them. Now having said all that I now must agree with so many others that there was a bit of a let down in the fact that there is so much more that could have been added, especially from Chuck D himself. If we are talking about music that shook this world, nothing could have shook it more than Chuck D w/ Public Enemy's own music through Fight The Power and Public Enemy #1. Let's not also forget NWA's many tracks about injustice and inequality and the deserted communities by our governments. Bob Marleys "No Women, No Cry" 2 Pacs Dear Mama, and the list goes on. Though society frowns on hip hop and rap, it would help them to be educated on many of the messages behind the tracks and the artists that are creating them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Educate Yourself

Great songs. Great narration. Well worth the time. Take the time to educate yourself and understand how these songs drove many movements -equality or the lack-there-of being a common theme.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wow, heard some things I didn't know💯🙏🏽

Very educational and inspiring. makes want to create a mix featuring parts of the songs mentioned to bring awareness to the artists. very well done!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Mommies Record player

Groing up it was the Recca player and many of us can remember hearing our parents music all the time, little did we know that those would be the songs that shaped our lives, because the songs were speaking directly to us about what was happening in the world our parents sheltered us from. Chuck D did a fabulous job on this! Outstanding! and the chosen artist and stories told was so very true and for some I am sure will be eye opening. Do not skip this one.👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!