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Bbros 04
Bbros 04
Bbros 04
From it's inception, rap was one of the most potent musical forms of the
Eighties. At its slightest, it was filled with sexual braggadocio, and almost
obsessive self-absorption: The subject of most rap music was, in fact, rap
music. But groups such as Grandmaster Flash and the furious Five, who recorded
"The Message," and Kurtis Blow, who hit the charts with "The Breaks,"
demonstrated that rappers could be articulate and stridently political.
Public Enemy's leader is the stentorian Chuck D, whose deep-voiced
preaching is pitted against the chirpy tenor of his clownish co-rapper, Flavor
Flav. The group enjoys muddy politics: To a core philosophy of black
self-help, the band adds various strains of black radicalism, most pungent
amoung them an admixture of uncritical Farrakhanism. Yet Public Enemy has
achieved massive, cross-racial success, selling millions of records and filling
arenas across the country. The band's third album, "Fear of a Black Planet,"
is, in addition to rap, riveting rock music. Chuck D was born Carlton
Ridenhour 30 years ago. Bill Wyman spoke with him at Public Enemy headquarters
on Long Island and at the offices of Def Jam Records in Manhattan. "The
shouted slogans and ragged beats are for the stage and the studio," reports
Wyman. "In person, Chuck is personable and quiet, with, as he puts it, 'a face
to fit in.' It turns out that the fiery radical would rather talk about his
family and his business than about politics: He and his partner and producer,
Hank Shocklee, employ nearly 30 people; he's proud of the fact that they
practice what they preach."
-=*/> Question # 1. <\*=PLAYBOY:
Rap music can be jarring and harsh, almost antimusic. What sort
of music was around the house when you were growing up?
CHUCK D:
Aretha, Aretha.
-=*/> Question # 2. <\*=PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
I would go to clubs and check out the rappers, but it got to the
point where they were using too much echo chamber and the words
were muffled. I wanted to hear straight-out rhymes. I thought
I could do a better job. And one day, I did.
-=*/> Question # 3. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
CHUCK D:
Back in '87, people were wearing those stop watches, and one day,
one of the boys brought up this clock. I thought it was hype, and
I started wearing a bigger clock. He just kept getting bigger and
bigger clocks. I took my clocks off.
-=*/> Question # 7. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
You make some of the hardest rock records ever made - they're
dissonant, loud and challenging. Does this approach make it
difficult to get your message across?
CHUCK D:
One of our objectives is to uplift our race and rebuild the black
structure, rebuild the black man and woman. A lot of us are
hardheaded about it. But if I smack you on the head with this
newspaper, you'll definately listen up. Bang! "Yeah! What's Up?"
Rather than just me saying, "Yo, check this out."
Originally, we wanted to make a record that would stand out
from all the others sonically. We made our first single, Public
Enemy No. 1, in December 1984. I liked that particular sample, but
there was another consideration: We could monitor who was
listening. My parents lived on the corner, and I could listen to
what the cars were playing on their systems as they drove by. If
you just heard a beat, it could be any record. But if it had the
noise on it, then I knew they were playing the jam.
-=*/> Question # 8. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
In May 1989, your former band member Professor Griff announced that
"Jews are responsible for the majority of wickedness that goes on
across the globe." The predictable brouhaha ensued, you apologized
and Griff ultimately left the group. Around that time, you played
*(see note) a concert in Chicago, and you sought the advice of Louis Farrakhan.
What did he say to you?
CHUCK D:
He said, Chuck, what you got to do is, you got to lead. And if it
doesn't go your way, you've got to put your foot down. For the
sake of being right against what's wrong. The Spike Lee movie
[Do the Right Thing] came out, and the media were at the starting
gate. I was trying to handle the internal situation [with
Professor Griff], but if I had the chance to do it all over again,
I would have told -him- to handle it, or else.
-=*/> Question # 9. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
What are Public Enemy groupies like compared with, say, Motley Crue
groupies?
CHUCK D:
them. Help your sister out, help your community out by being a man
leading that community. 'Cause our sisters have been holding the
weight of the community for so long.
-=*/> Question # 14. <\*=PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
One of the things Public Enemy does best is manipulate the media by
making deliberately controversial statements. At the same time,
there's a risk of going too far: Your account of the Griff
contorversy in Welcome to the Terrordome started a new round of
anti-Semitism charges against the group. Would you give us an
explication of those lines?
CHUCK D:
A lot of times, I'll say something just to make people jump. Then
I can say, "See, I caught you offside." I plan the dangers of it.
This time, everyone was accusing me of bringing back Hitler's
reasons for killing the Jews, something that I never heard of in my
life. Now, out of one hundred lines in the song, they looked at
four. The lines go like this: "Crucifixion ain't no fiction." I
believe that Christ was a brother who got crucified. "So called chosen frozen." That was my only reference to the Jewish
community, which was appaled by the remarks in the Griff article.
"Frozen" means stopped in their tracks. And I said "so-called
chosen" because I don't think that one group of people are God's
chosen people. "Apology made to whoever pleases." That's what I
did in 1989 after all this happened. "Still they got me like
Jesus." My whole point is that the media is still taking me out.
And the response was, "Well, I don't believe it." What's your
criteria for not believing me? A lot of people were mad because I
put Griff back in the group after taking him out. But then again,
it's my group, and this is the black community I live in. I could
live down the block from this man, but that's not white America's
concern. I said that this was wrong, and now let's move on.
-=*/> Question # 16. <\*=PLAYBOY:
Once and for all, explian what seperates blacks and Jews today.
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
You've said that you have no problem with whites; it's just "acting
Caucasian" that causes problems. Are you using the word Caucasian
in the same way some whites use the word nigger?
CHUCK D:
PLAYBOY:
CHUCK D:
[Laughs] Oh, shit, man, yeah! I got some parents who put me in my
place. Hank will put me in my place. That's what happened last
year. Hank said, Listen: Give a fuck. You're responsible for
thirty motherfuckers. Family and structure are important.
-=*/> Question # 19. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
What is the proper target for black rage? Are you advocating hate?
CHUCK D:
Hate is not a nice word. You got to hate your oppressor, but you
have to know who your oppressor is, and your oppressor is not an
individual. It's a collective train of thought; it's a collective
state of mind. You should hate that shit. But you shouldn't hate
a person.
Although, if that person claims that he is at the steering
wheel of that force of oppression, then you make your move, you
know what I'm saying? [Laughs]
-=*/> Question # 20. <\*=-
PLAYBOY:
Arsenio Hall has not yet asked you to come on his show. How come?
CHUCK D:
-=*/> Buzzz Bros. <\*=To all racists, bigots, and those with hatred in your hearts:
Gas Face Given
___________________
Special Thanks to:
Lorraine Olivia (The Playmate of the Month - who happens to be from Chicago)
___________________
(c) MCMXC