-
Songs That Shook the Planet
- Words + Music | Vol. 26
- Narrated by: Chuck D
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
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.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Never Said Nothing
- Words + Music | Vol. 25
- By: Liz Phair
- Narrated by: Liz Phair
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you explain Liz Phair? Looking at her career, the word fearless seems the right place to start. In Never Said Nothing, the latest in Audible’s Words + Music series, Phair charts her unlikely journey from making her first record - one that’s now ensconced on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” - to a trial by fire (she’d never set foot on stage before its release), to even more improbably, a second and a third, maybe fourth act, depending on how one counts these things.
-
-
Came back for three months for Liz.
- By j fid on 12-27-21
By: Liz Phair
-
Angela Davis
- An Autobiography
- By: Angela Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Davis
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Angela Davis has been a political activist at the cutting edge of the Black Liberation, feminist, queer, and prison-abolitionist movements for more than 50 years. Angela Davis: An Autobiography, first published and edited by Toni Morrison in 1974, is a powerful and commanding account of her early years in these struggles. Read by Angela Davis herself, this autobiography, told with warmth, brilliance, humor, and conviction, is a classic account of a life in struggle, with echoes in our own time.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By Eryk on 02-28-22
By: Angela Davis
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
History demands the official story be corrected
- By David C. on 12-05-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Finding Me
- A Memoir
- By: Viola Davis
- Narrated by: Viola Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.
-
-
A Glorious Listen!
- By Ajm220 on 04-27-22
By: Viola Davis
-
Chuck D. Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History
- By: Chuck D., Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Narrated by: Chuck D., D.R.E.S. tha BEATnik, Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on Chuck's long-running show on Rapstation.com, this massive compendium details the most iconic moments and influential songs in the genre's recorded history, from Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking verse on "Control". Also included are key events in hip hop history, from Grandmaster Flash's first scratch through Tupac's holographic appearance at Coachella.
-
-
Poor fidelity intro, sloppy production
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-19
By: Chuck D., and others
-
Finding Tamika
- By: Erika Alexander, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, and others
- Narrated by: Erika Alexander
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black girls and women disappear every day, but not without a trace. Join actress and activist Erika Alexander in a neo-noir, true crime drama as she searches for Tamika Huston, a 24-year-old Black woman from Spartanburg, SC who went missing in 2004. Her case became a rallying cry for other missing Black women in America and led to a growing demand to expose a system that ignores missing girls and women of color.
-
-
Such a wonderful series.
- By amber on 03-04-22
By: Erika Alexander, and others
-
Never Said Nothing
- Words + Music | Vol. 25
- By: Liz Phair
- Narrated by: Liz Phair
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you explain Liz Phair? Looking at her career, the word fearless seems the right place to start. In Never Said Nothing, the latest in Audible’s Words + Music series, Phair charts her unlikely journey from making her first record - one that’s now ensconced on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” - to a trial by fire (she’d never set foot on stage before its release), to even more improbably, a second and a third, maybe fourth act, depending on how one counts these things.
-
-
Came back for three months for Liz.
- By j fid on 12-27-21
By: Liz Phair
-
Angela Davis
- An Autobiography
- By: Angela Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Davis
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Angela Davis has been a political activist at the cutting edge of the Black Liberation, feminist, queer, and prison-abolitionist movements for more than 50 years. Angela Davis: An Autobiography, first published and edited by Toni Morrison in 1974, is a powerful and commanding account of her early years in these struggles. Read by Angela Davis herself, this autobiography, told with warmth, brilliance, humor, and conviction, is a classic account of a life in struggle, with echoes in our own time.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By Eryk on 02-28-22
By: Angela Davis
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
History demands the official story be corrected
- By David C. on 12-05-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Finding Me
- A Memoir
- By: Viola Davis
- Narrated by: Viola Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.
-
-
A Glorious Listen!
- By Ajm220 on 04-27-22
By: Viola Davis
-
Chuck D. Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History
- By: Chuck D., Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Narrated by: Chuck D., D.R.E.S. tha BEATnik, Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on Chuck's long-running show on Rapstation.com, this massive compendium details the most iconic moments and influential songs in the genre's recorded history, from Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking verse on "Control". Also included are key events in hip hop history, from Grandmaster Flash's first scratch through Tupac's holographic appearance at Coachella.
-
-
Poor fidelity intro, sloppy production
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-19
By: Chuck D., and others
-
Finding Tamika
- By: Erika Alexander, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, and others
- Narrated by: Erika Alexander
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black girls and women disappear every day, but not without a trace. Join actress and activist Erika Alexander in a neo-noir, true crime drama as she searches for Tamika Huston, a 24-year-old Black woman from Spartanburg, SC who went missing in 2004. Her case became a rallying cry for other missing Black women in America and led to a growing demand to expose a system that ignores missing girls and women of color.
-
-
Such a wonderful series.
- By amber on 03-04-22
By: Erika Alexander, and others
-
Allow Me to Retort
- A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution
- By: Elie Mystal
- Narrated by: Elie Mystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them. Mystal explains how to protect the rights of women and people of color instead of cowering to the absolutism of gun owners and bigots. He explains the legal way to stop everything from police brutality to political gerrymandering, just by changing a few judges and justices. He strips out all of the fancy jargon conservatives like to hide behind and lays bare the truth of their project to keep America forever tethered to its slaveholding past.
-
-
Informative and Entertaining
- By Kindle Customer on 03-06-22
By: Elie Mystal
-
Will
- By: Will Smith, Mark Manson
- Narrated by: Will Smith
- Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.
-
-
Will sure loves Will
- By Kejeco on 11-18-21
By: Will Smith, and others
-
Quite the Contrary
- On Life, Work, and Loving Miles Davis
- By: Yvonne Durant
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson, Yvonne Durant
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yvonne Durant was one of the few Black women writing ads for major brands in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Ambitious and determined, she ultimately won a position at a global ad agency in Milan, Italy. While her career was exciting, it was a challenge to be self-defining in a Mad Men world that had little experience with or respect for Black experience.
-
-
Compelling Story…Beautifully Written
- By Amazon Customer on 02-11-22
By: Yvonne Durant
-
The Book of Baraka
- By: Ras Baraka, Jelani Cobb
- Narrated by: Ras Baraka, Jelani Cobb
- Length: 1 hr and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“When I become mayor, we become mayor.” Ras Baraka’s famous words speak to exactly who he is as a leader - a fiercely loyal member of his community. In this innovative and ground-breaking Audible Original, hear how Baraka - the mayor of Newark, New Jersey - grew from spoken-word artist to school principal to successful politician.
-
-
We need more Barakas in our life....
- By Cecelia Rich on 02-25-22
By: Ras Baraka, and others
-
Love Me as I Am
- By: Garcelle Beauvais
- Narrated by: Garcelle Beauvais
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Love Me as I Am is Garcelle Beauvais’ smart, inspiring, and raw memoir—an entertaining and unforgettable emotional roller-coaster ride that moves from her early childhood years in Haiti to her adolescence in Boston; from her heady days as a young model in New York—her first taste of real freedom—to Los Angeles and the many ups, downs, and then more ups, both personal and professional, she experienced in her three-decade acting career, including her massive fame as a star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
-
-
love this book
- By Nahomi on 04-13-22
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
Audible Masterpiece
- By Phoenician on 09-10-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
Coal Country
- By: Jessica Blank, Erik Jensen, Steve Earle - music
- Narrated by: Mary Bacon, Amelia Campbell, Michael Gaston, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2010, the Upper Big Branch mine explosion in West Virginia killed 29 men and tore a hole in the lives of countless others. Now you can hear the first-person accounts from survivors and family members. In this riveting, emotionally stunning new work, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, award-winning writers of The Exonerated, and three-time Grammy Award-winning country/folk legend Steve Earle dig deep into the repercussions of the most deadly mining disaster in recent US history.
-
-
True to life, emotional story
- By WVMindiS on 10-11-21
By: Jessica Blank, and others
-
The Shadow That Scares Me
- By: Dick Gregory
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the Dick Gregory (1932 -2017) of the devastating wit and pointed humor known to millions. Here, too, is the impassioned social reformer, speaking out on such subjects as respect for law, order, and justice; violence and police brutality; the breakdown of Negro families; civil disobedience; and other vital issues.
By: Dick Gregory
-
Entertaining Race
- Performing Blackness in America
- By: Michael Eric Dyson
- Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 30 years, Michael Eric Dyson has played a prominent role in the nation as a public intellectual, university professor, cultural critic, social activist and ordained Baptist minister. He has presented a rich and resourceful set of ideas about American history and culture. Now for the first time he brings together the various components of his multihued identity and eclectic pursuits.
-
-
M.E.Dyson Entertaining At His Best
- By Amazon Customer on 11-13-21
-
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
- A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning
- By: Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
- Narrated by: Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi - introduction
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
-
-
You can't fight what you don't know-Jason Reynolds
- By C. Owens on 06-14-20
By: Jason Reynolds, and others
-
How the Word Is Passed
- A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
- By: Clint Smith
- Narrated by: Clint Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This compelling #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America—and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives. Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the listener on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.
-
-
Sincerely grateful read
- By Kelvin Dixon on 06-08-21
By: Clint Smith
-
Defining Moments in Black History
- Reading Between the Lies
- By: Dick Gregory
- Narrated by: James Shippy
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark acerbic wit, incisive humor, and infectious paranoia, one of our foremost comedians and most politically engaged civil rights activists looks back at 100 key events from the complicated history of Black America. Defining Moments in Black History is an essential, no-holds-bar history lesson that will provoke, enlighten, and entertain.
-
-
How we see the world matters to how we tell storie
- By Adam Shields on 10-03-18
By: Dick Gregory
Watch the Trailer

About the Creator and Performer
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.
-
Songs That Shook the Planet
- Words + Music | Vol. 26
- By: Chuck D
- Narrated by: Chuck D
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Excellent and different Sound+Music episode
- By R. MCRACKAN on 02-04-22
Believe the hype!
Audible Originals
We’re raising the bar on audio entertainment with these original listens produced in the Audible studios.



Best Musical Memoirs
These listens shed light on the sold-out shows, backstage drama, and even the charisma of the recording industry.
Celebrity Narrated Listens
From classics to modern favorites, this list features some of greatest stories brought to life by Hollywood’s best.
What listeners say about Songs That Shook the Planet
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. MCRACKAN
- 02-04-22
Excellent and different Sound+Music episode
I've listened to most of the Sound+Music episodes and they mostly follow the same formula, and it's not a bad one: part memoir, part music. This one is different and is so appropriate to his work. Chuck D doesn't tell us a thing about Public Enemy, which would have been great in its own right. Instead, true to who he's always been, he lead us through a history of socially conscious songs and anthems which had real impact or which specially reflected their time.
Some of these have been so overplayed since then that their meaning has all but been forgotten. When you hear Bob Marley, you're more likely to envision a middle class teenage white boy getting his first taste of mild psychotropics than you are to think about revolution against an actual oppressive regime. Chuck D reminds us of the original power and circumstances of these songs with the presence of a showman of genuine conviction.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nat Price
- 02-21-22
More
Loved it. It feels like it could, or maybe should have been more expansive. With a title like “Songs that Shook the World," I was expecting maybe more depth, but definitely more breadth as far as song and artist selection and geographic location. As it is, this is a reflection of songs in a few genres that shook mainly North America and within a narrow band of time. This could be the first of many more volumes, just saying.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PD
- 02-05-22
OMG! WONDERFUL
Chuck D did a fantastic job of presenting this material. I enjoyed the story as well as the music that accompanied the storyline. A history lesson with music and songs.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- starmasterfloyd
- 02-05-22
Earth Rattling
Very informative and enlightening. Great artist and songs. So much detail into the songs and the artist.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dr. John L. Takeuchi Turner
- 02-05-22
Powerfully done sharing info that we need to know!
Truly on-point and deep, giving pure GOLD a shine!
Highly recommended!!! Don't wait, get it!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C Marino
- 02-24-22
skAMAZING!
Chuck D's narration, especially his obvious passion for the music, is intoxicating. I love how much he acknowledges songs from original Jamaican Ska!!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adwoa
- 02-23-22
Thank you!
Excellent! I enjoyed this from start to finish. Learning the background of the songs I too grew up listening to thanks to my parents was so enlightening. I highly recommend this audiobook. Hearing it in Chuck D’s iconic voice was a benefit as well.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Janine S.
- 02-23-22
Excellent anthology of great music as well as social justice and history lesson
Learn some knew stuff about music and the history of the country. Thought provoking content with music that will keep you motivated to make a difference every day. Big Thumbs up
Thanks ,ChuckD, for making this Audible event.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KG
- 02-23-22
🎶I Love This🎵
I loved Chuck’s Narration…..I enjoyed hearing the background of this music I know most of us heard growing up….this was more than just music…it had a message…it was the soundtrack to our lives.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ClanofWolfandCrow
- 06-18-22
A Must Listen
Critical music history from one of the most respected elders. These songs should be on everyone’s frequent rotation, and their history should be common knowledge. Chuck D’s voice is unforgettable, and his narration natural and captivating.