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-Public Enemy |
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-Public Enemy |
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5.20.01 9:45 est Ex-Rage Frontman De La Rocha And Chuck D. Record With
Convicted Killer Abu-Jamal The rare UK date is the first confirmed show of the year for the legendary hiphop act, who will take their place as second on the bill below the Stereo MC's. Also recently added to the bill are Wookie, Artful Dodger and Dane Bowers to the Garage Nation stage on the Saturday. Tickets are priced £35 per day and go on sale this weekend (July 28-29). Revealing that there would be
"a few live surprises" in their set, Public
Enemy's Professor Griff told NME.COM:
"The Essential Festival will be a good chance for us to
re-introduce ourselves to generation next with Public
Enemy's next level." worldpop/dance have done it again and are giving you the chance to be in their next video. Producer Dirty Earsy is making Funky Beats this weekend, and he needs the dancing talents of you lot to help make it a success. Filming takes place today from 7pm until tomorrow at 2am and you will be rewarded in cash for your efforts ... not only that but he'll throw in a free feed too for you raving monkeys! The filming takes place at The Natural History Museum, London, and all you have to do is give nice chap Richard a call on 07976 729870 or 01753 481520. Get dialing! The album, called Hard Hop Superstar is due for release next month, and will feature both singles from the hard house act who are also playing live across the country this summer. You can catch Public Domain at Homelands at the end of this month (26 May), and at the Gatecrasher Summer Sound System on 16 June. Funky Beats is out on 21
May, with Hard Hop Superstar following on 11 June, both on Xtravaganza. Speaking at NME.COM's NetSounds conference in London this afternoon (May 2), Chuck D outlined what he saw as a three-tier future for the music industry with countless small names providing a worldwide base, filtering up to independent label releases and then onto big league with major labels. "When the industry digitised in the 80s they let the genie out of the bottle," he said. "And the bottle has now shattered into millions and millions of little pieces." A long-time advocate of file-sharing applications like Napster, Chuck D said major labels (the "big monsters") had to stop trying and wipe out MP3 files and realise that their march was inevitable and should be embraced. "The labels need to see that trying to fight MP3s is trying to shout at a thunderstorm, it's going to happen, you've got to come up with ways adapt to it, and make it work for everybody," he said. Illustrating the unstoppable momentum of the web, Chuck described the difference in the way he was viewed in the short time since he started his www.bringthenoise.com website and www.rapstation.com web-based radio station. "Three years ago people thought I was mad. Two years ago I was sued. Last year I was seen as a parasite and within two years the majors will be talking to me as an equal." He also used the platform to slate Metallica's Lars Ulrich for his relentless pursuit of fans who used Napster to swap Metallica MP3 files. "He's just greedy and ridiculous," he said. "Obviously they're fans. I bet every one of those 300,000 names has bought at least one Metallica album. They're contributing somewhere. In the US it costs at least $85 for a ticket to a Metallica show. How much do they [Metallica] want? How fucking greedy can you be?" Chuck finished with a word of
caution, saying that he saw subscriptions for some downloads were inevitable,
but he added that labels had be realistic about the amount people were willing
to spend. Even though the rap superstars' flight was delayed by nearly three hours Chuck D and Griff eventually appeared on stage to a rapturous reception. Chuck D announced 'We've just got straight off the plane, we've got serious jetlag, but we're really pleased to be here to support the funky sh*t these guys are doing.' So overwhelmed was the rapper by the applause he received he asked to sing the song twice. Chuck D is also in the UK to make the keynote speech at the Netsounds conference. A well known advocate of free music on the internet, Chuck D left the stage last night declaring that 'from now on all Public Enemy's music is gonna be free.' Public Domain's single featuring
Chuck D is out on 21 May and their album featuring the hit single Operation
Blade Hard Hop Superstars is out 11 June. Public Enemy are due
an album later this summer. Speaking at the internet conference Netsounds in London on the future of music on the web, Chuck D, who now runs his own online rap station, www.rapstation.com and his own record company Slam Jam Records said the Metallica drummer was just exploiting his fans. 'Metallica fans have already bought the concert tickets, the T-shirts and the album so how much money does he want from them? Does he want their money all the time?' Chuck, who has embraced web technology ever since severing his contract with Sony Records two years ago said that, 'Trying to stop people downloading music from the web is like trying to stop a thunderstorm. It's going to happen anyway. The romanticism of buying a record from your local record store has gone. Thirteen-year-old kids prefer to burn their own CDs with tracks downloaded from the web. It's something they've created and can call their own. Chuck told a packed crowd of music industry a executives and journalists that he was 'attracted to the web because of its immediacy'. He added, 'As an artist, I can record a track about the May Day riots on Tuesday and release it on Wednesday. Whereas a traditional record company I may have to wait two years before they decide to release an album.'
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