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Chuck D

Public Enemy, Atlanta, USA

As Public Enemy’s mighty mouth that roared, Chuck D upped hip hop’s aesthetic ante like no emcee before or since. B.C. (before Chuck) the genius of rap was most often its stylistic sophistication. A.D. (after D) we all recognized the power of hip hop to mobilize the masses and elevate mind-states without losing an iota of its visceral appeal; “food for the brain, beats for the feet,” as Chuck himself once rhymed, the bourgeois and boulevard both rocked with seminar-worthy precision. You’d think P.E.’s legendary recordings, production innovations (the handiwork of Chuck and Hank Shocklee’s beats-by-hardcore-committee, the Bomb Squad), and turbulent career twists and turns would be more than enough to fill his resume. But over the past several years Chuck’s singular voice as a revered political and social commentator, Air America Radio host, author and publisher, and progressive entrepreneur (having been an early proponent of the Web as a means of sharing music) has kept him as, if not more, active than in P.E.’s golden era heyday. Given the present precarious state of the States (and the rest of the world), we need Mistachuck now more than ever. He’s still # 1 (one, one… one, one… one, ONE!). 

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