Chuck D Interview: Talks Cube, MC standards and why Jay-Z is the best

[jbutters]

Source: http://www.halftimeonline.com
Audio: http://halftimeonline.com/hip-hop-icon-series/chuck-d-public-enemy/

As the front man for the legendary group Public Enemy Chuck D helped revolutionize the rap game by bringing political, social and cultural consciousness to the forefront of hip hop discussion. Following Public Enemy’s success a number of groups came forward with a foundation in Afrocentrism. The production team, The Bomb Squad consisting of Chuck D, Hank & Keith Shocklee, and Eric “Vietnam” Sadler, created a dense, ferocious rock infused sound unlike anything that came before them to outline PE’s scathing narratives. In addition to their lyrical content and sound, PE also pioneered a number of other hip hop movements including the first rap world tours, introduced the first hype man in Flavor Flav, and released the first albums on mp3.
We caught up with Chuck following his work on Ali Rap to discuss a number of topics. In a conversation that lasted roughly two hours we talked about the creation of P.E., his relationship with Flavor Flav, Ice Cube, politics and a lot in between.

Halftimeonline: Back in the days when you were apart of Spectrum City you said you were the emcee that did all the ugly duties like the designing the flyers and running the record pool. Could you talk about those days and how you ended up becoming the main emcee in the group?
 
Chuck D: Well, #1 I was a big fan of Spectrum and Hank Shocklee before there were records. Then when rap records became a reality we were playing those records along with other records. So when I first got a gig with Spectrum we were mobile DJs who were experts at moving the crowd and rocking the audience. I became an emcee in the truest sense of the form where I would not only be the Master of Ceremonies but I had to also move the crowd. I was really making sure that I navigated the music that was going down in a proper way to inform the crowd musically. We were the best at doing it because back then if you were and MC and didn’t have a voice you weren’t getting on the mic. You couldn’t just get up and scream something wack over the music and have people take it. It was easier for them to be like get that wack cat off the mic and let the music breathe. Nowadays cats think because they know a couple of slang words they can be on the mic, but their voices may not be cool enough to not get in the way of the music. They’re just in the way but they need to let the music breathe and rock the crowd right with skill. That skill comes from rocking hundreds of crowds and really feeling what the audience is feeling instead of just going off of what you think. I spent six or seven years refining those skills before I started making records.

Halftimeonline: I was reading an interview you did a while back and in it you said when you met Hank Shocklee he helped you get to a new level of emceeing. What were some of the things you would attribute to him that helped you get to that level?

Chuck D: When I met Hank Shocklee I approached it as I was a fan of his outfit and I wanted to tell him that I could help him with graphics, imaging and flyers to have people come to their gigs. Back in the day you had to have a good voice to cut through an inferior sound system. Spectrum was one of the few that had a real good system so a good voice would come through even better. Hank realized I had a good voice that was able to cut through and he taught me the importance of timing and not always having to rock the crowd except at the peak points and those nuances I keep to this day. It’s almost like Count Bassy when he was making his music. He did more music without making music, with spaces, than most cats did with music. It’s the same thing with emceeing. You can say volumes sometimes without saying anything or saying something at the right times. Those are some of the nuances of emceeing, not rapping because that’s a whole different thing. If you are emceeing a gig you can sometimes throw your rap button on and rock a portion of the crowd and turn it back off and go into emceeing. Not too many cats know the difference.

Halftimeonline: I find it interesting that even prior to your emcee career you were on the ground floor of trying to get hip hop on the radio, you had a video show, etc. but you were leery of getting a record deal. Obviously, you felt it was positive, but where did you see hip hop going at the time?

Chuck D: I was always a big sports fan, as well as all my guys. Sports are organized and you can’t just come on the team from nowhere. When you look at professional sports guys have to come from college, go through some kind of pecking order or meet some skill standards to get to wherever they wanted to take it. The industry was nonexistent at that time as far as rap and hip hop goes and I wanted to be able to understand it and bring some structure to it. We were always envious of the things the guys in the rock world were doing. They had logos, bands that always seemed to play, they released records and were respected internationally and local. At that time rap music seemed to be something that just happened. You had good cats that were skilled at doing it but the music largely resulted from young people trying to stay busy. I wanted to get involved with it and see if I could take it to another place. I graduated college at 24 or 25 and I’m thinking I’m gonna do something anyway so I’ll do this and it won’t have any bearing on my living. If it happens to overtake it then I’ll have to have a discussion to see what I want to do with the whole music thing.

Halftimeonline: After you guys officially formed it took a while before you put out a record. I heard you were trying to also do a syndicated radio show. Tell us a bit about that.

Chuck D: Well, I always wanted to get into broadcasting. I always thought that you could actually broadcast rap and hip hop in a way that could be informative. We already knew the music was already fly so all you had to be was informative. I thought that there could be better ways to go about doing hip hop on the radio other than what was thrown at people. Most of the New York guys like Chuck Chillout and Red Alert didn’t set the best example because they didn’t allow them to talk. They let Mr. Magic talk but other than that there were few radio shows that were able to explain the nuances of the music. That’s what I wanted to get into. That understanding came from me wanting to be in the sports casting world. Marv Albert was a hero of mine. He had a flow, a great voice, and could explain all of the street elements of basketball.

Halftimeonline: Was that why you were always known to rock Pirates gear because of your love of sports?

Chuck D: Roberto Clemente is a hero of mine. He is the epitome of an athlete that transcended into the world, both he and Muhammad Ali. The P in the Pirates gear also stood for Public Enemy. At one particular point I was selling more black Pirates hat than the Pirates themselves. After I wore one in my video I got a letter from Major League Baseball saying that they would not like me to wear a Pirates or St. Louis Cardinals hat. They said they would prefer that I not wear any major league baseball hats in my videos and that they were not condoning any use of their material. I was like hell I bought that as a consumer.

Read the rest @ http://www.halftimeonline.com

[The Predator]

Good read, Cube and his 0.89 notebook!

[QuietTruth]

Read this yesterday and forgot to say propz, good read man.

[mrceo]

Chuck knows who the REAL king is

[Mac 10 †]

Chuck D explaining why he thinks Jay-Z is the greatest:

Because he is the embodiment of all of the emcees up to his point. Just like Jordan you have to admit he’s the best because he is the embodiment of all of the players up to his point. You had Doc, Elgin Baylor, the tenacity of Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and then he had to come through Isaiah and then you finally say Jordan. Same thing with Jay-Z you have Mele Mel the power, Kool Moe Dee the wit and execution, you have KRS-ONE who’s the most feared rapper of all time, and one of the most innovative rappers in Rakim. Jay is the epitome of all of those guys up to his point. The bottom line that told me he was the top dude is his performance. Once he played the Hard Knock Life tour in 97 and had to come on after DMX was putting it to his ass. That took a lot of courage and ability for him to get out there and he did it. From there I said this dude is messing with different levels. I think he carries the standard and he’s fearless in his stage show. When people try to debate me I’m usually like have you ever performed on a stage at a high level before? One of the biggest problems of rap music and hip hop are that the books written about it are rarely done by the cats who were on stage or behind the tables. Walt Frazier just put out a book called ‘The Game Behind The Game’ now I’m reading that book! Too many books about hip hop are written by cats who just liked it. It’s like do you understand what it is to be in a stadium and perform at a high level. I’m not necessarily saying one person’s grade is higher than another’s but I definitely know what I’m talking about. There’s gonna be people past Jay-Z but I think he has epitomized the standards of what it is to be the best.

[MontrealCity's Most]

good stuff thanks for the hook up

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

chuck d is a legend, no denying that.  but its funny how he did not have one rapper "from the greastest of all time list" that was not from New York.  i mean, not even Cube is viable for one of those spots who he fucken worked with?  and if hes basing a rapper on stage performance, that means the albums quality doesnt matter, as long as the rapper rocks the crowd for one fucken night?  bullshit.

lol at Jay-Z is all the rappers greats rolled up into one.  the only thing that nigga is rolled into is a big ass garbage bag.

[Tanjential]

chuck d is a legend, no denying that.  but its funny how he did not have one rapper "from the greastest of all time list" that was not from New York.  i mean, not even Cube is viable for one of those spots who he fucken worked with?  and if hes basing a rapper on stage performance, that means the albums quality doesnt matter, as long as the rapper rocks the crowd for one fucken night?  bullshit.

lol at Jay-Z is all the rappers greats rolled up into one.  the only thing that nigga is rolled into is a big ass garbage bag.

you are right. chuck d's def is different than ours cause his experience is different from ours. i disagree with what he said alot. but when he was around in the beginning, all hip hop WAS was rocking the mic for one night. one of those cats that doesn't wanna let go of the past, and feels that the idea of rocking the mic for one night will be lost if he doesn't champion it.

+1 sanford
-T

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

chuck d is a legend, no denying that.  but its funny how he did not have one rapper "from the greastest of all time list" that was not from New York.  i mean, not even Cube is viable for one of those spots who he fucken worked with?  and if hes basing a rapper on stage performance, that means the albums quality doesnt matter, as long as the rapper rocks the crowd for one fucken night?  bullshit.

lol at Jay-Z is all the rappers greats rolled up into one.  the only thing that nigga is rolled into is a big ass garbage bag.

you are right. chuck d's def is different than ours cause his experience is different from ours. i disagree with what he said alot. but when he was around in the beginning, all hip hop WAS was rocking the mic for one night. one of those cats that doesn't wanna let go of the past, and feels that the idea of rocking the mic for one night will be lost if he doesn't champion it.

+1 sanford
-T