Chuck D: Again And Again
The master of framing the moment within a gut-felt emotion is back, providing clarity beyond the crystal clear. Take a listen to Chuck’s response to the natural and federal disaster of Katrina, the Children of Eris remix, “Hell No We Ain’t All Right”
Chuck D’s rhymes flow so natural and powerful they take form within your psyche while you latch onto his beat. That’s because Chuck doesn’t twist to the beat of a loop; Chuck’s direct, unflinching words twist a beat of their own.
Can’t you feel him in this latest drop?
I follow his words, like “the new world is upside down and out of order” as a flip from the past, as back then he was taken aghast, as the polar opposites were set-up, the Axis of Evil corrupt…
Man…
I often wonder if the 17 to 23 year-old crowd nowadays gets the same dose of reality in the Hip hop nation.
Sure, the crew of Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and The Roots bring consciousness to each of their narratives on multiple levels. Underground hip-hop, like Head-Roc, sticks to the 
grimy reality, and J-Live lives and keeps it real as a teacher in Brooklyn, but where is the channeled anger of this generation?
Maybe he/she/they are out there and the gray in my chin is talking all of this junk — if so, feel free to let me know. To the extent that Chuck D and Public Enemy pumped out perspective and knowledge in the late 80’s to the mid-90’s (along with KRS-One and Brand Nubian), I just don’t hear the same form of consistent passion in these modern day cats.
Yes, Mos Def was crazy conscious with his tabulations in Mathematics, and has kept ‘em coming leading right up to the in-the-moment response and drop of Katrina Klap. Artists such as Kanye West have proven to have a conscious, yet even Kanye still goes back and forth with club songs chock full of faux diamond dissing, gold-digging lyrics.
Chuck D earned the lead Public Enemy #1 tag with his straight up, hardcore responses to social issues of the time; I’m talking about consistent responses to real-time events, like:
- dropping “By the Time I Get To Arizona” when Arizona refused to honor Martin Luther King’s birthday
- or when Chuck tried to shut down the malt-liquor industry in “1 Million Bottlebags” for targeting young black males with their poison
- even in their twilight, in 2002 Public Enemy dropped “Son of a Bush” at a time when political commentary in hip-hop was ripe for the picking, but rare due to the climate of blind patriotism. Only Eminem made any Bush accountability waves, but he waited until a safer year of 2004 to drop his Mosh video, pre and post 2004 elections.
Enough.
Like that dude on Enter the 36 Chambers said, “Ah yeah, again and again!”
Bring the noise, Chuck.
UPDATE: Here’s the original Public Enemy release of “Hell No We Ain’t Alright“
Tags: activism, Arizona, audio, Brand Nubian, Brooklyn, Chuck D, Common, Eminem, FEMA, George Bush, Head Roc, Hip hop, Homeland Security, J Live, Kanye West, Katrina, KRS One, Martin Luther King, Mos Def, music, New World Order, politics, Public Enemy, racism, reality, teaching, underground, Wu Tang.
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I don’t think the gray in your chin (or maybe mine for that matter) is talking any junk…social consciousness and political activism is long gone from mainstream rap. Sure, it may be buried beneath the streets, but you’d be hard-pressed to find it on BET, MTV, or your local radio station (is anyone even listening to radio?).
The reason? Hip-hop is the new pop. Rappers make more money than most rock artists. Half of Billboard’s singles chart is made up of rap songs. It’s the norm, not the aberration.
Seriously, what do most rappers have to complain about? Very little these days, in my humble opinion. When your biggest problem is trying to rhyme “rims” for the 6th time in your second verse, or coming up with the HOTT phrase-of-the-week for describing a girl’s ass (”my humps”, anyone?), you aren’t really worrying about The Man keeping you down. You are The Man. And besides that, The Original “Man” is still firmly in control…with hip-hop the top money-making music venture these days, why get political and risk losing your guaranteed radio play, multi-million dollar endorsement deal, and your shoe line…all because you spoke out against Bush and Co.? Or anything for that matter? Nah, better to keep hip-hop safe and sanitized…let them rap about girls and cars and how they spend money, all the while giving impressionable kids false hopes and dreams that transcend the sad reality of today. More mindless slaves for the corporate world to shill to.
I used to love hip-hop. Hell, I used to make it. There was something innocent about it…something raw and fresh. Back in MY own personal glory days of hip-hop, with Tribe and De La, NWA and even Kid N’ Play, everyone had something to say. Some of it was angry…some of it was funny, but all of it was from somewhere real. Nowadays, it’s about as real as your neighborhood thug down the block who works at McD’s and spends all his money on ringtones. Or your neighbor’s daughter who thinks it’s okay for a guy to call her a chickenhead or a slut, because Nelly or Project Pat said it, and they are on MTV with the new Mercedes.
I miss Public Enemy. I miss them more than I realize…because now, I have to search for them and their message. Once upon a time, they were right there, in my face.
There’s still a lot to love about Hip hop, Ray. The five modern days artists I listed keep my interest piqued enough to stay tuned. But generally speaking, I agree with you. The market is saturated with garbage rappers who “try to keep it real, when they should try keeping it right” (to quote De La).
Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard more anger and expression of anger in Hip hop than I’ve heard in years. Don’t get me wrong, Hip hop isn’t and shouldn’t be all about angry, conscious rhymes, but I consider it to be a form of a check-up, like when your cholesterol level is below 200. It’s good to have Hip hop healthy.
Hopefully Hip hop will keep away from the baby-back ribs of rims and ass rhymes a bit more in the future to stay healthy.
Another thought: Imagine if the internet was alive and kicking in the PE era? Man… Chuck, Flava, Terminator X, Griff would’ve been dropping shit the day after a political event went down, instead of having to wait for distribution dates.
The internet is the new millennium version of a trunk full of mix tapes being hawked on the corner.