Public Enemy Leads Hip Hop Back to the Community
By Nancy Dunham
Chuck D may be the most reluctant royalty in hip-hop.To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Public Enemy and the release of two albums that Chuck D calls “fraternal twins,” Chuck D has led his group on the Hip Hop Gods Tour, to give back to the community. After a press conference and red-hot show in Washington,D.C., Chuck D and his boys were psyched, but the ever-cool front man was keeping his talk on point.“Hip hop comes out of the community and for the last 15 years, hip hop has been taken over by corporations,” he said. “Hip hop was born in the community and we’re ready to give back to that community.” So Chuck D, Flavor Flav and the rest of Public Enemy are traveling across the U.S. with 
a revolving line up of all stars from what they call the “classic” age of hip hop. X Clan,Schooly D, Leaders of the New School, Monie Love, Son of Bazerk, Wise Intelligent (of Poor Righteous Teachers), Awesome Dre, and Davy DMX are among those that will join Public Enemy on our during the next few weeks. Chuck D makes it clear that this isn’t about any one band or one tour but rather to re-establish hip hop as music of the people and let fans see it done “old school, which is not a derogatory term.” It’s also part of the HipHopGods.com, a community for old-school hip hop fans. The site, compared to “classic rock radio” by DMC of Run-DMC, is just another way Chuck D said his band and his format is staying ahead of the curve. Public Enemy’s two new albums “None of My Still Don’t Appear on No Stamp,” and “The Evil Empire of Everything,” were first released online with little fanfare this summer. Chuck D said he knew the right people would find the music. “We were the first ones to get into the digital. Everyone is communicating that way now,” he said. “We were just waiting for everyone else to catch up.” Now they’ll pave the way to a hip-hop revue that many doubters thought couldn’t be done. Not only did the show in Washington, D.C. show the style of the show was solid but fan reaction took hip hop right back to the street. “If you look around, there really hasn’t been a hip hop tour. That is a misnomer,” said Chuck D talking about one-off shows and corporate-heavy tours. “That’s really heavy and unrealistic. It takes away from what is best about performance art. The music and DJ, the graffiti, that is the teamwork that makes it as entertaining as Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. The Hip Hop Gods tour will bring the light. We are making a statement – we control this.”
For more information, go to the HipHopGods site.
Hip Hop Gods Tour Dates:
November 28 Washington, DC 930 Club
November 29 New York, NY Irving Plaza
November 30 Philadelphia, PA Licouras Center
December 1 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
December 2 Boston, MA Royale
December 4 Indianapolis, IN Vogue Theatre
December 5 Chicago, IL House of Blues
December 6 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
December 7 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre
December 8 Denver, CO Ogden Theater
December 9 Jackson Hole, WY Pink Garter Theatre
December 10 Aspen, CO Belly Up
December 12 San Diego, CA 4th and Broadway
December 13 Los Angeles, CA Nokia
