Chuck D's Droppin' Knowledge

[bigted]

I found this over at the Enemy Board this morning:

"Chuck D. to today's young rappers: Respect yourself

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

February 18, 2005

It's the lineup hip-hop lovers might have in their wildest dreams: the Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Naughty By Nature and Kool Mo Dee, topped off by Public Enemy. Saturday's Legends of Hip-Hop concert at the Fillmore is one show that uses the word legend correctly.

Public Enemy generally doesn't do this stuff, but entrepreneur/longtime Will Smith collaborator Charlie Mack pulled it together.

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"We don't do one-offs, but this is an interesting area to build," Public Enemy rapper Chuck D. says. "Charlie Mack is trying to organize a structured, hip-hop legends concert series, trying to add that tier."

And that's vitally important if hip-hop as a genre is going to not only survive but have any overall cultural meaning.

While hip-hop is becoming one of the dominant forces in modern music, it's not treating itself with the respect it deserves, says Chuck D., the man who's single-handedly credited with bringing rap to the mainstream while creating some of the most lasting yet incendiary music of the modern era.

"If hip-hop is supposed to be the music of the young world, it's very important not to treat it like a hustle," he says from his New York home.

"When it comes down to rap, not only do the people within the circle treat it like a hustle, but everyone in rap and hip-hop treats it like hustle music, something that's disposable."

The blame lies with the media (which still discounts the music), big corporations (which exploit the music without understanding it) and blacks themselves (who sell themselves short in the genre they created).

"It's just how black people are still treated in this country. Because we're treated like that, we give in and treat ourselves as something of the moment. You see more white kids at a blues festival than black people. You know that something's gotta be wrong," Chuck D. says. "The things we create are not being revered. Why is Eric Clapton the (bomb) and Eric Gale is not?

"That's what the NBA is about. It'd be cool if we paralleled off some of the marketing of the NBA. There's no Dr. J/Michael Jordan when it comes down to hip-hop respectability. The league brings the past, present and future to the table."

Given that hip-hop is an ever-evolving genre, it takes some work, says Chuck D. (real name Carlton Ridenhour).

"(Hip-hop) was always rebelling against the status quo," he says. "If three people decide to wear their pants baggy and braid their hair up and the rest of the crowd didn't, that was considered hip-hop. Once everybody starts to do it, the conformity of it all makes whoever goes against that be hip-hop. When we see Jay-Z wear a suit, he's being rebellious to the status quo."

With its groundbreaking records of the '80s, Public Enemy was once more than the status quo - it was what every other rapper aspired to be.

"We look at ourselves as the Rolling Stones of rap. The Rolling Stones are an event. Public Enemy is an event," Chuck D. says. The Stones don't make an impact on the charts with new records these days yet retain loyal fans, he notes. "We're not going to be in the same circles of publishing and recording as Nelly. Just as you wouldn't compare Green Day to the Rolling Stones."

For Chuck D., it's all about communication, whether it was through Public Enemy classics such as It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet or other avenues. New music continues to come out, including the recent single MKLVFKWR. He also did a full-time talk show on Air America Radio during the presidential election and still does an online top-20 rap countdown through AOL. PublicEnemy.com and RapStation.com have his fingerprints all over them.

Chuck D. hopes his work on radio and AOL helps fill a glaring need for intelligent discussion about the genre.

"Radio, when it's presenting hip-hop, has always done it wack. . . . The information and facts need to be delivered about the genre and the music," he says.

"People just blindly go out and buy music or are blindly swept into it without talk. DJs used to talk about music. They do talk about music when it comes down to classic rock. They don't do that in rap music and black music."

His radio work "allows you to get a voice of clarity out there," he says.

Sometimes that voice turns against rappers, even as he hangs with them and they revere him.

"Hip-hop grosses a lot, but it doesn't mean it's satisfactory to the genre and history of it," he says. It's disjointing for him to hear young rappers praise him, then create music that's lyrically the opposite of the things Public Enemy stood for.

"A lot of people are doing things that are lyrically removed from what they truly believe. They look at the nodding acceptance from their marketing company to continue to make the dollars, and it's a dollar game," he says.

"(Music) is a big extension of what you believe in your soul. When it comes down to it, I have a lot of doubt that a lot of these cats really believe what they say. Are they doing it for their companies? They might be being paid so well, but . . . I don't believe they're doing it for the sake of art as (much as) they're doing it for the sake of their pockets. That's cultural strip-mining."

That's why hip-hop has to start treating itself with the respect and sense of purpose that other genres of music do, he says.

"Classic rock is wonderful. That's why you'll see a teen-ager wear a Led Zeppelin T-shirt. I ask you 'why?' When a 14-year-old kid buys a Beatles record, you wonder, 'How the (blazes) did that happen?' I get a lot of e-mail from kids 14 years old saying, 'I like Public Enemy.' This is why an organization of old-schoolers needs to be in place. You need fewer entertainers and more structural-administration people in our industry."

[mfuqua23]

It makes U think, what is everybody so afraid of? I honestly do feel and believe hip hop can get back to where it used to be, but greater.

[hotzappa11]

It makes U think, what is everybody so afraid of?

Not selling enough records, not getting the money want or the girls. It's probably something along those lines or most of them arent that good at rapping?

[bigted]

Not selling enough records, not getting the money want or the girls. It's probably something along those lines or most of them arent that good at rapping?

[Silver Tiger]

This was good. He got it down pat. I like how it talks about rappers praising him, yet doing what he preached against.

God Blessa!

[mfuqua23]

Like a soon 2 be line I'm developing...

"Rappers are a dozen a dozen. It's just a matter of who ya know (connection wit a cousin) to get in. That saying "it's what U kno, not who U kno" isn't really true, becuz it's a lil of both.

[Hero1]

i couldnt agree with chuck any more :bowdown:

[JumpinJack AJ]

I agree with pretty much all of that. Commercial Rap is a disgrace and i think in some of those comment, Chuck D is giving most of them 2 much credit even tho' he's dissing them. I don't see how someone like Nelly could say they look up 2 old skool legends like Public Enemy and then make the kinda music they make. That's just fake. If u love Hip-Hop, u'd be original and u'd wanna take the music 2 the next level. If u aren't doing that, then u are spitting on the name of Hip-Hop. That's why i don't respect 50 Cent, D12, G-Unit, and so many others. They don't care about it, they don't care about the music they make, they just wanna be famous and make money.

[bigted]

I agree with pretty much all of that. Commercial Rap is a disgrace and i think in some of those comment, Chuck D is giving most of them 2 much credit even tho' he's dissing them. I don't see how someone like Nelly could say they look up 2 old skool legends like Public Enemy and then make the kinda music they make. That's just fake. If u love Hip-Hop, u'd be original and u'd wanna take the music 2 the next level. If u aren't doing that, then u are spitting on the name of Hip-Hop. That's why i don't respect 50 Cent, D12, G-Unit, and so many others. They don't care about it, they don't care about the music they make, they just wanna be famous and make money.

:werd: Commercial Hip-hop has really been the same for the last 10 years but it just seems to be getting worse and worse every year, there ain't no young mcs comin' up to bring new life to it, I think it's up to the hip-hop legends to get some recognition for the knowledge they drop, when that happens hip-hop'll get better, we need more than LL and JJFP on the charts for that to happen, I think Public Enemy, KRS-ONE, De La Soul, and Tribe Called Quest have to get some airplay too, these young kids that listen to commercial hip-hop need to be educated!

[JumpinJack AJ]

What's kinda funny is that it's grown in2 2 different music styles. I always talk about the difference between Hip-Hop music and Rap music, but it's gotten so outta hand that there should be 2 seperate sections in music stores 4 them...different radio stations 2 listen 2. Think about it, music fans who don't require a high standard for what music they listen 2 can listen 2 the Rap station filled with alot of artists who have no talent or intellegence. Back 2 back commercial hits from G-Unit, Lil' Jon, Chingy, Ja-Rule, The Game, and so on. Hip-Hop heads would then have a station where they could tune in2 people like LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, Shock-G, Black Eyed Peas, and of course FP. They really aren't the same kinds of music anymore.

[mfuqua23]

OK, by definition of the HARPERCOLLINS - Student Notebook (Webster's Dictionary)...

Rap - rhythmic monologue performed to music.

Hip-hop - pop culture movement involving rap music, graffiti, and break dancing.

[mfuqua23]

Back 2 back commercial hits from G-Unit, Lil' Jon, Chingy, Ja-Rule, The Game, and so on. Hip-Hop heads would then have a station where they could tune in2 people like LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, Shock-G, Black Eyed Peas, and of course FP. They really aren't the same kinds of music anymore.

OK, u wanna put it like that. I understand, but why is it U could only list the non-talent, all about the money, rap (and I use this term loosely) artists that most people get sick of. Maybe those were the first to come to mind.

Rap would be NaS, Snoop Dogg, 2pac.... actually it's really hard to put some people in which ever genre. Whoever created or 1st found hip hop, ask them what the definiton is. Has it changed since it's arrived? And rap, what exactly is that? Maybe these two go hand in hand. But which came first, the chicken or the egg? Rap or hip hop. Some people would say "who cares? it's all music. let's just enjoy it."

And doesn't it seem like even when hip hop first came out, the originators argue wanting a greater sole recognition for what they did? Look at our World's scientists. One comes up with formula a few months faster than the other. But they can share in the discovery, because of a difference in how it was found or result of it.

Another thing that puzzles me is when I was reading in a mag(The Source), which I will probably never buy again, on Tupac, Young Buck said "I'd like to rap politically, but I already know what the outcome will be." <--- that is total bull. Look at Jadakiss. Naturally he did that to benefit himself. Is he shot and died... no. Same deal with "Wake Up". That got very little. That certain part of America, is like "U got freedom of speech, but look whose really listening to U." I was kinda offended when NaS got on track wit Jada and said what he said. Common is another, but he spoke on his behalf of what he thought, not to help out Jadakiss.

As deep as the discussion goes with hip hop in these certain topics, why don't the actions as well?

[bigted]

Well I look at it basically the way KRS-ONE says it rap is something you do, hip-hop is something you live, if you're a rapper that limits you to being good at only rappin' and havin' a record deal being more of a product, that's what makes most rappers sell outs but I say commercial hip-hop for the simple fact that their are mcs out there like Nas, LL, and FP that're gettin' airplay but're still hip-hop 'cause they don't put the sales ahead of their artistry, I might not fully agree with some of the rappers they choose to collaborate with but I don't hold it against them 'cause they try to reach out and not beef all the time, I wouldn't hold it against Nas if he did a song with Jay-Z 'cause I don't hold it against FP for doing a song with Lil' Kim, but anyway when you're a hip-hopper or an mc you're representin' the culture in other things as well, but first and foremost you are an individual and not a product, by being a good performer as well, you could be a hip-hop dancer, hip-hop writer, hip-hop graffiti artist, hip-hop DJ, hip-hop fan, hip-hop poet, hip-hop actor, hip-hop mc, hip-hop model, hip-hop minister, hip-hop athelete, hip-hop doctor, hip-hop etc., it's all in the lifestyle peeps of all ages live and enjoy the music all around the world.

[TopDawg14]

Chuck D. is saying what I've been saying for years.

In the pursuit of the almighty dollars, a lot of rappers will rap about anything to get paid. Rap music to them is a hustle. Do you really think cats like 50 Cent really care about the art form? As long as he can make records that make money then it's all good in his mind. Rappers have sold their souls for money.

These rappers don't believe that doing real hip-hop music sells. They figure " if I try and I don't sell, then the label's gonna drop me. I've got to do whatever I can to sell records. This is my hustle." The tripped out thing is everytime you get rid of a wack rapper, another rises. Ja Rule rises & falls and who's there to take his place - 50 Cent. IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY! Money is what drives rap music now. That's why real hip-hop acts can't get signed to major labels. These labels are about money and real hip-hop heads(FP, De La, Queen Latifah, etc.) aren't going to rap about just any old thing and sell their souls. 50 Cent will and that's what he does.

[bigted]

50 Cent is hypocrital for dissin' Ja Rule 'cause he does the same thing now, "Candy Shop" reminds me of a Ja Rule video, he's biting Ja Rule, so that in my opinion makes him soft 'cause he ain't himself at all anymore. It seems that a lot of the true mcs are gettin' dissed by these trend rappers, why is 50 Cent turning to diss Nas now? I don't get it, Nelly disses KRS-ONE, Eminem disses FP, and now 50 Cent's dissin' Nas? :nhawong: I actually hope Nas ignores 50 'cause 50 is trash and Nas shouldn't waste his time to answer back, he should keep on doing meaninful songs like "Just A Moment" and not worry about him 'cause hip-hop heads ain't respecting 50 anymore. Nas responded to Jay-Z and beat him but Jay-Z' still selling millions, KRS ripped Nelly but Nelly's still multiplatinum, all those stupid teeny boppers say about KRS is that he's an old man who sounds too preachy, they don't have no morals in them that's why, I think the teeny boppers won't understand what hip-hop 'till they get older so they'll still buy Eminem's albums even when FP responds back to rip him 'cause they won't even comprehend FP's intelligentness, I think some of the ol' school fans gotta come out and support the true mcs that're still out.

Edited February 27, 2005 by bigted