Chuck D.
Chuck D.
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, better known by his stage name Chuck D, is an American emcee, author, and producer. As the leader of the rap group Public Enemy, he helped create politically and socially conscious hip hop music in the mid-1980s . About.com ranked him at No. 9 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time, while The Source ranked him at No. 12 on their list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Lyricists of All Time...
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth1 August 1960
CityQueens, NY
quality looks juniors
Someone like Jay-Z does have a timeless quality, but it's much different than ours. You can look back at something like "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors or the music that was on American Bandstand in the 1950s-'60s.
real mind estates
Minds are the real estate of the 21st century.
stupid rap thinking
For a long period of time, the media covered rap music and hip hop the same way they cover a lot of black people, people of color, you know, the bad news happens to be news. They used to have these little stupid colloquialisms that pop up like, "You know what? No news is bad news!" They trick the masses into thinking that any news is great for you. And I just think that's a piece of crap.
song philosophy writing
I adhere to the philosophy, "I don't care who writes the laws, let me write the songs."
fighting artist sight
Most artists are always fighting for their fame. They have that fear, like the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind." They need to keep themselves out there. I have never had that fear. If I have any fear, it's not doing enough to reach people.
song believe albums
I'm recording freely, and if I make a song, I release it immediately, so I'm more likely to believe in one song at a time as opposed to albums.
voice government hip-hop
The powers that be are trying to meld, shape, and corral the culture of hip-hop into another speaking voice for the government.
past voice leader
There are too many leaders anointed because they have a public voice - television, radio, or record, or whatever. That even includes myself. In the past, I'd say, 'Don't anoint me when you can anoint yourself.
country rap opportunity
If you want to speak about different ethnicities and diversity, rap and hip-hop are all over the planet. Every country, from Turkey to Australia, now has tons of hip-hop artists. The music and artistry have moved way faster than the corporatization of the music. You do need organization and opportunity for these artists to express themselves, and I don't think it has to come from a corporate co-signing.
masters hardest manage
You can't master time, but you have to work your hardest to manage it.
thinking enemy alive
I think traveling the world has helped to keep Public Enemy alive. We've never solely depended on the United States.
song heart artist
Corporations have steered the industry into what it wants, and a lot of times they will make artists record what it wants or to make songs talk to who they want to talk to. But sometimes the heart and the head have to be able to talk and deal with a situation that's evident.
people black black-people
With black people, there are 50 Hitlers over the course of history.
order gears life-is
My work throughout my life is always representative of the time we live in. It's all about keeping it in order and keeping it in gear.