Few artists in any genre have the good fortune or fortitude to keep the embers of their cultural relevance aglow two decades into their career. Fewer still, can claim to have fundamentally changed an art form, and then survived to see their innovations imitated, warped, forgotten, and payed homage to all while continuing to create, raise a family and lead a relatively normal life. With It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, one of the most celebrated hip-hop albums of all time, Chuck D and his inimitable side-kick, Flava Flav, crystallized for the masses the acute aggression and political unrest that had stirred below the surface of hip-hop since its inception, and became synonymous with a black power movement still very much alive today.
We caught up with the surprisingly congenial icon at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival as he was preparing to perform It Takes a Nation in its entirety, and talked with him about longevity in hip-hop, the meaning of Barack Obama, and why Jay-Z's crusade against autotune is so misguided.
A Thousand Grams: How does it feel to play a festival like Bonnaroo in 2009, decades after Public Enemy first took off?
Chuck D: It's good. It's great to play Bonnaroo. We play festivals around the world all the time, so while it may be new to Bonnaroonians, it's really daily bread to us. We're glad to be able to represent. We've been asked to perform It takes a nation of millions to hold us back in all parts of this country, and this is the fourth piece in a five piece set.
ATG: You performed the album with The Roots at the 2nd annual Roots Picnic recently, how was that?
CD: Yeah we did The Roots picnic last week. They're great, man it was good. Usually our shows go pretty smoothly unless someone falls or something [chuckles]. But every show we play, the result for us at the end is usually "Wow. I've never seen that before." Which is always good.
ATG: What do you think it is about Public Enemy that lets you play so many disparate venues, whether it's Bonnaroo or Rock the Bells? It seems like no matter what type of venue, people will show up to see you.
CD: I think there's a large contingent that have been hearing about us for such a long time but just in the last 10 years have become old enough to see us for the first time, even though they've been hearing us since they was 1 or 2. And also, festivals make so much available to check out. So not only do you go see Public Enemy, but you could get TV On the Radio or Beastie Boys or Phish, even. So I think people are like "yeah, I've heard about these guys all my life and now I'm gonna go see it." So that's what I think this kind of environment offers. Great latitude for artists
ATG: How do you think the meaning of your music has changed in 2009?
CD: Well we have a black president. We shouldn't take that lightly [laughs]. A lot of people are all over the place in saying what it is and what it isn't, but this is the reality now. And what that means to the planet should NOT be underestimated. I just came from the country that has the largest population of black people outside of Africa, which is Brazil. 80 million black people in that country and they LOVE the idea that somebody like Barack Obama can be president. So the message in the music from Public Enemy is always to keep trying. To hold your head up with dignity and respect and just do your thing.
ATG: What music are you listening to about now?
CD: Well I'm usually listening to my artists, which can be found at publicenemy.com and slamjams.com. And then I'm listening to the 50s and the 60s and the 70s and the 80s. When I do put on something new, yeah, I have to tell you that I was noddin' my head to Death of Autotune earlier in the week, and also my man Envy Bill from Brazil.
ATG: So are you with Jay on the D.O.A. thing? Does autotune need to die or stick around?
CD: Man, that's a children's topic to me. That's his topic. Me, I mean the death of an instrument or technique, that's too light for me. Autotune, I mean that's an instrument. It'd be like saying the death of the microphone or something [chuckles].
Chuck D: It's good. It's great to play Bonnaroo. We play festivals around the world all the time, so while it may be new to Bonnaroonians, it's really daily bread to us. We're glad to be able to represent. We've been asked to perform It takes a nation of millions to hold us back in all parts of this country, and this is the fourth piece in a five piece set.
ATG: You performed the album with The Roots at the 2nd annual Roots Picnic recently, how was that?
CD: Yeah we did The Roots picnic last week. They're great, man it was good. Usually our shows go pretty smoothly unless someone falls or something [chuckles]. But every show we play, the result for us at the end is usually "Wow. I've never seen that before." Which is always good.
ATG: What do you think it is about Public Enemy that lets you play so many disparate venues, whether it's Bonnaroo or Rock the Bells? It seems like no matter what type of venue, people will show up to see you.
CD: I think there's a large contingent that have been hearing about us for such a long time but just in the last 10 years have become old enough to see us for the first time, even though they've been hearing us since they was 1 or 2. And also, festivals make so much available to check out. So not only do you go see Public Enemy, but you could get TV On the Radio or Beastie Boys or Phish, even. So I think people are like "yeah, I've heard about these guys all my life and now I'm gonna go see it." So that's what I think this kind of environment offers. Great latitude for artists
ATG: How do you think the meaning of your music has changed in 2009?
CD: Well we have a black president. We shouldn't take that lightly [laughs]. A lot of people are all over the place in saying what it is and what it isn't, but this is the reality now. And what that means to the planet should NOT be underestimated. I just came from the country that has the largest population of black people outside of Africa, which is Brazil. 80 million black people in that country and they LOVE the idea that somebody like Barack Obama can be president. So the message in the music from Public Enemy is always to keep trying. To hold your head up with dignity and respect and just do your thing.
ATG: What music are you listening to about now?
CD: Well I'm usually listening to my artists, which can be found at publicenemy.com and slamjams.com. And then I'm listening to the 50s and the 60s and the 70s and the 80s. When I do put on something new, yeah, I have to tell you that I was noddin' my head to Death of Autotune earlier in the week, and also my man Envy Bill from Brazil.
ATG: So are you with Jay on the D.O.A. thing? Does autotune need to die or stick around?
CD: Man, that's a children's topic to me. That's his topic. Me, I mean the death of an instrument or technique, that's too light for me. Autotune, I mean that's an instrument. It'd be like saying the death of the microphone or something [chuckles].
Subscribe to the 1000G feed
Temptress Lohan is to stay out of gaol until her court day. Celeb justice strikes once more!!!
Very great piece you wrote here. As 1 blogger to another one, I recognize how difficult and how much time it requires to come up something great. You have my respect.
I found your website and desired to tell you that that I've definitely enjoyed reading through your website posts.Thank you for sharing this data ,I really appreciate reading it.
Good post, thanks
I’ve looked all more than for this info. You have been truly valuable. Thanks so very much. I’m gonna go have a sunless tan now
Looking at the proliferation of personal web pages on the Net, it looks like very soon everyone on Earth will have 15 megabytes of fame
Obama is way dumber than Bush.
PC Pro Schools