Arts
& Lectures Magazine Chuck D: Parental Advisory: This Man Contains Explicit Thinking Thursday,
November 18, 2005 @ 8pm By Barbara McKenna Chuck D is a man of many worlds. Although best known for his role as leader and co-founder of the break-through rap group Public Enemy, D is also a social activist, radio personality, author and lecturer. It is Chuck D the lecturer who will be coming to town in November. Once called "the Bob Dylan of rap" by George Clinton, D is not the average rapper. Born Carlton Ridenhour, D (aka "Mistachuck") is the son of political activists who, he says, "always made me secure in my beliefs." While the majority of rappers out there today seem obsessed with their Bulgari bling, Manolo Blahniks, Air Force Ones and Burberry (which, by the way, should only be worn poolside), D and his crew are among the few who stay focused on the political — addressing such issues as Arizona's refusal to join in on the national observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday ("By the Time I Get to Arizona"), the transgressions of the George Bushes ("Son of a Bush"), or the self-destructive ways that people cope with oppression ("1 Million Bottlebags"). Rap music's commercialization is a longstanding bone of contention for D, who has noted numerous times on his speaking tours that Hip Hop culture has sold out. D's complaint is well-placed — rap music has become so brand-name obsessed that, according to one marketing company, brand names have been dropped 645 times in Top 20 rap songs during the first eight months of this year. Public Enemy started to take shape in the early 1980s when D hooked up with college friends Hank Shocklee and Bill Stepheny. (Their first release, in 1987, also featured Flavor Flav, deejay Terminator X and Professor Griff.) Rap had hit the mainstream only a few years earlier, when Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" tore to the top of the charts in 1979. A few outstanding artists like Public Enemy and KRS-One took the genre to a new level, emphasizing political themes and taking advantage of the sampling techniques made available by new computer technologies. Unlike modern rap, in which artists often sample a whole recognizable portion of a song or beat that they rap over (and pay major royalties for), the early songs by Public Enemy featured a unique and astounding patchwork of dozens of sampled fragments laced together in the studio. After their second release in 1988, lawsuits from record companies ended this approach (guess how D feels about corporate lawyers?). But Public Enemy adapted and has gone on to release a total of nine albums to date. These include their 1988 release, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back," which was named one of the 25 "most significant albums of the last century" by The New York Times. The article described the album as "rap not at its scariest but at its most politically and musically dangerous, a final fissure insuring a new generation gap in American music." Public Enemy is credited not only with revolutionizing rap but with breaking ground for online music distribution. They were one of the first major label artists to format their music as downloadable as mp3 files. Their first attempts, following the 1998 release of Public Enemy's soundtrack to Spike Lee's film, He Got Game, caused a major flap with the group's label. The label —Hip Hop recording conglomerate Def Jam — threatened the group with legal action. Not surprisingly, Public Enemy's next album, There's a Poison Goin' On, was not released through Def Jam. It was distributed exclusively online through Atomic Pop Records. In Poison, D makes pointed reference to his experience with Def Jam, rapping "If you don't own the master, the master owns you." D's interest in the Internet as a way to bring the music directly to fans has grown into a many-armed creature over the years. These days, the computer-savvy rapper has expanded his empire to include several online venues for lesser-known artists. At a time when the music industry is rapidly morphing into an iron-curtained monopoly, alternative outlets for new artists are vital. D's outlets include www.rapstation.com and www.bringthenoise.com — sites featuring original Hip Hop video and music programming, free MP3 downloads, commentary and the like. Bringthenoise.com was named "Best Internet Radio Station" by Yahoo! Internet Life and the fabulous Mistachuck was also named to Upside magazine's "Elite 100" list of Internet leaders (along with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates). While holding down his role with Public Enemy, D's political activism has been the catalyst for a multitude of other projects. In 1997 his book, Fight the Power, was published to wide critical praise. This past year he joined the line-up on Air America Radio as co-host of the show "Unfiltered." He also writes a monthly column that appears on Public Enemy's home page. He has also served as national spokesperson for Rock The Vote, the National Urban League and the National Alliance of African American Athletes, among other groups. He's also been seen debating with the likes of Ted Koppel on "Nightline," Bill Maher on "Politically Incorrect" and Bob Costas on his HBO show. As best as we know, he hasn't attempted horse whispering yet, but that may be next. Despite the diversity and sheer volume of his work, it all boils down to a single, burning philosophy — "bring the noise." In typical Chuckian style, it's not always clear whether that statement is a challenge or an invitation. But what else would you expect from Public Enemy's number one rapper? To read more about Public Enemy, Chuck D, and various projects, visit these sites: www.publicenemy.com SIDEBAR: Chuckisms (No, he didn't!) Chuck D couldn't schedule an interview with A&L before press
time, but so much ink has been devoted to the outspoken rapper
that we were able to glean a few gems here from other sources.
So here, without further ado, are a few most excellent "Chuckisms." We're all being slaves to commerce. With everything being homogenized, we have a unified sense of dumbassificiation. A thug is a cat who can do a crime and get the f--- away.... That's why Bush is the biggest thug of all. Rap is CNN for black people. Thinking is going to save your life. Hold on to your minds. That’s the real estate of the millennium.... You have to protect your property. On the glut of consumer-conscious rap songs being produced today: [They are the] lobotomy of rap music.... soul and mind has been extracted through commercial consumption. The labels need to see that trying to fight MP3s is trying to shout at a thunderstorm. It's going to happen, you've got to come up with ways to adapt to it, and make it work for everybody. The best American is one who realizes he's a citizen of the world. On the New York Post: America's oldest continuously published daily piece of bullsh--. (From the Public Enemy song, "A Letter To The New York Post") Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It’s something you’re supposed to do. Now, you can’t go around bragging, expecting to get props because you voted. That’s stupid. You don’t see people running around trying to get props because they washed up. “I washed today! I took a shower today!” But if you don’t vote, you can’t go around if something goes wrong saying, “Aw man, stuff just stinks!” Well yeah, something stinks because you ain’t smelled yourself. You supposed to take a shower, dude, or you gon’ stink! The hip-hop nation is supposed to vote, because if they don’t, something’s gonna stink: The draft gets voted in, cats get pulled off to war, the average person is gonna get shot up. Interview with Jeff Chang, Mother Jones, Sept/Oct. 2004 ....the sick cycle of greed that has used the art form [of rap] to suck minds, keep the blind blind, and to pay a very limited select few to trick the masses of many. For those that even utter the words 'long live Hip Hop' they should best to do a thorough check on them culture bandits who are merely wolves in Hip Hop clothing. —Chuck D's August column from www.publicenemy.com |