During Public Enemy’s ‘war years’,Chuck D was the sensible one who kept the chaotic show on the road. He talks approximately Black Lives Matter, not getting an invitation to the White House, and why solo rappers like Kanye and Jay Z are losing their mindsIt’s comical how rappers who were once explosively controversial,denounced by the press, police and politicians, and turn into beloved elder statesmen. Gangsta rap pioneers NWA have been almost canonised by the hit movie Straight Outta Compton. “NWA were a bigger movie than they were a group,” Chuck D says admiringly. His group Public Enemy, meanwhile, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll corridor of Fame two years ago. “We don’t bag Grammies and shit like that,” says Chuck. “It’s an incestuous circle. We’ve always operated external the circle and attacked the circle, which makes our existence harder sometimes. When we got into the corridor of Fame, or we felt we were properly curated.”We are sitting in Chuck’s room at the Park Hyatt in Hamburg. Supporting the Prodigy in Europe’s arenas buys a better lesson of hotel,but Public Enemy have managed on a lot less. Chuck calculates they have played almost 4000 shows in 104 countries and this is their 104th tour. On Harder Than You Think, which became the theme tune to the 2012 Paralympic Games and their biggest UK hit, and he called the band “the Rolling Stones of the rap game”. He remembers telling his label Def Jam in 1990: “I don’t wanna be the guy that’s gonna be doing this shit for 30 years.” He sips his coke,looks at a suitcase leaking clothes and raises his eyebrows. “Duh.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com