The latter featured a controversial music video where Public Enemy was depicted killing the 17th Governor of Arizona, Evan Mecham, who refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday.

Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone praised its production and lyrics, stating that Apocalypse 91 "attempts nothing short of setting a sociopolitical agenda for the black community.

[22] NME's Ian McCann credited Apocalypse 91 for its "totally brutal and funky" music, but was disappointed that it rarely deviates from its forceful approach, despite the "sharp intelligence" of its lyrics.

2 in The Village Voice's 1991 Pazz & Jop critics' poll, behind Nirvana's Nevermind,[24] while editors of Spin ranked it 7th in their list of 20 Best Albums of the Year.

[25] Retrospectively, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine cites the album as one of the great records of golden age hip hop.

[27] On November 26, 1991, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies in the United States.

[28] All tracks are written by Carlton Ridenhour, Stuart Robertz, Gary "G-Wiz" Rinaldo, and Cerwin "C-Dawg" Depper unless otherwise notedPublic Enemy Additional personnel ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.