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
art tired simple
I became tired of submitting my art to a panel of corporate strategists who decide if it meets their standard of what gets into stores or not. It was quite simple for me: they act like judge and jury of my art, and that is unacceptable. I wanted to give it right to the public.
rap kids artist
Eminem has talent, and his talent is the thing that influences many young people who would have never gone anywhere near rap. White kids in different parts of the world use him as a barometer and the standard to live up to. In some ways, Eminem is an artist who has ushered in a new movement.
school past age
Where else can you go with respect to the work, lyrics, and message of the music? If you are past high school age, you can get by with saying very little the first or second time around. However, after a while you know you are going to have to say something beyond high school stuff.
trying world conflict
So, rather than trying to humbly mix with the rest of the world, we are forcing ourselves upon it. We seem to create conflicts with everyone.
mean thinking revolution
I think that revolution means change. And if somebody feels like there's nothing wrong, everything's great even when it ain't, why would they ask for a revolution? Just stick the tubes into me and just pump away.
struggle moving alive
I want to always move forward with everything I am doing. So, I do the radio show, speak at universities and other social institutions all around the world, appear on TV, and continue to create music all in the hope to keep the struggle alive.
men black characteristics
I know I am judged unfairly by my physical characteristics and ostracized because of that so I say, "Yes, I'm a black man."
hip-hop hips hops
It's not about what you get out but what you put into hip hop as a genre.
attention reason pay-attention
We didn't invent music, so it's been here for a reason, and it has powers for a reason. So we should pay attention to it, because we might not know the clear answers but we should at least acknowledge that it is something there. To not be playin around with it.
people hip-hop hustle
It ain't this big I, little You. Music is to be shared. Music is not a hustle. [Hip hop's become] cultural stripmining [by the major labels]. Some people get into this music to make a killing but music is a way to make a living.
thinking issues together
Once you think bigger than yourself then the cause becomes the issue if you think on a higher plain you can come together to work on our problems.
war thinking people
If they can send you to war at 18, maybe it's beneficial for some people to think that most of us gotta go to war for our own existence.
A lot of the post-1977 dancefloor disco sounds had their place at one time, but you can't bring them back unless you bring back a floor.
might world passports
If you go get a passport, it might encourage you to at least consider the world around you.