Chuck D says about this song in Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip Hop Junkies: “The title came from an article I saw in Life magazine that had that caption about Malcolm X. It said, ‘What ever happened to the prophets of rage?’ I like to make the title to a song first because it helps me write the rest of the song, I operate from the title on down.”

Samples Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star.”