New word order

Verbal remedies from Public Enemy’s
orator-in-chief, Chuck D

FIGURES OF SPEECH: Chuck D (L) and Public Enemy

by NARCEL X

Hailing from Roosevelt, New York, Chuck D is still the same rebel without a pause. Alongside vice-president Flava Flav, he’s now in his 21st year as the leader of hip hop’s original political powerhouse, Public Enemy—as P.E.’s main MC, he’s consistently and eloquently slammed home a message of self-empowerment, awareness and social responsibility. From his presidential seat at Rapstation.com, Mista Chuck spoke to the Mirror candidly about the unexpected effects of Obama, Nas’s controversial album title and actions that speak louder than words.

Mirror: You’ve always been a revolutionary brother, from your music to your business decisions.

Chuck D: Growing up, I was a big sports fan. When I saw Julius Irving, who came from my hometown, on television, it was obvious he was very eloquent. He gave off the impression that he was concerned with what was happening beyond the court about the community. That was an unbelievable influence on me.

M: Now that Barack Obama is a candidate for president, how do you feel about him, and America as a body politic?

CD: I think Barack Obama entering politics was inevitable. I think it was a process of evolution from the people that paved the way for him. He is gifted, skilled, astute and pliable enough to handle the pressures that come before him, which will be twice as much as any other president. I think for about six months after, if he gets elected, there will be a sense of euphoria all around the world. Then the real world will set in. He might take some right-wing stances, he’s going to try to appease certain elements in society that I don’t necessarily gel with. But also, the support and belief in him could lead those factions to sway away from the right. The world is at a crossroads—we thought the world was here at the turn of the century but there was a little delay! We have to gear up for it and figure out the best way to co-exist.

M: The words “hope” and “change” are being thrown around, similar to how “freedom” and “justice” were post-9/11.

CD: We have to watch out. These words are great, but when they are taken out of context, you’re in trouble. Freedom and justice for all, but who’s all? You say we have to fight for justice—but what does fighting mean to you? Obliteration? Fight for what’s right—what’s right to one person is wrong to the next. We have to cut down the rhetoric and act for once.

Blame Channel Zero

M: To bring it back to hip hop, what do you think of Nas’s new album title [originally Nigger, now untitled] and the desensitization to the N-word?

CD: I don’t blame it on the artist. You have to blame the interpreters, the radio and television. The present hip hop generation isn’t clear on context and history because they weren’t taught it. If you aren’t clear on this context, you’re going to make up your own rules and be confused about it all at once. It’s hard for Nas to make a conscious political statement with his album title because you don’t have people with the skills who can contemplate and digest the political connections that he’s making with the word. Therefore, people take it at face value. People can deal with it frivolously, using it around their friends, but they can’t deal with it when somebody is dropping a deep, heavy definition in connotation to a history. And if they can’t deal with it, then all of a sudden, it becomes controversial.

That’s all bullshit. I blame it on radio and television, the people that interpret information for the masses. They don’t raise the standard of intelligence, and if they did, you would immediately have to deal with history. In turn, that will make you look at words, definition and context and keep them close to you. I think with today’s hip hop nation, it’s very easy to hide that history in order to sell it to them. I think these companies and the conspirators within all look at hip hop as something you can sell, and that chicken has come home to roost.

At Metropolis on Monday,
June 30, 8:30 p.m., $39.50