Similarly, Chuck D of Public Enemy rhapsodizes about his point of entry into Waters' music, the notorious psychedelic album Electric Mud; its critical reputation (bad) and commercial/image-building effect are then discussed by producer Chess and others. Waters' womanizing, preference for younger women, and children outside his marriage are also examined from multiple angles. Gordon and Neville fit an impressive amount of background and depth into what will air as a 54-minute PBS show next February.

As part of the contest, Chuck D posted newly recorded vocals of "Public Enemy #1," "Shut 'Em Down," "B-Side Once Again," and "By the Time I Get to Arizona" on his Web site, for fans to download and input into their own musical creations. The winners get producer credits on the album and royalties. Likewise, the group also had a Maine-based fan create the album artwork and a U.K.-based fan write the liner notes.


5.7.02  'Peep' at Public Enemy's Future Plans
(from NME)
PUBLIC ENEMY will release a new album in August, according to the band's leader CHUCK D.

Rosado and Chuck D have also collaborated recently on a reworking of the Muddy Waters track 'Mannish Boy', for a US TV documentary to be screened in 2003. The pair recorded the late bluesman's song with a band comprising the musicians who backed Waters on the original, augmented with human beatbox Rahzel, Roots drummer Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson, and vocals by rapper Common and singer Kyle Jason, a member with Chuck of PE side-project Hyenas In The Desert.


3.20.02  Now You Can Feed Your Hip-Hop Soul With 'Chicken Soup'
(from Sonicnet) by Abbey Goodman
'Chicken Soup for the Hip-Hop Soul' book being compiled.

8.7.01 I'd Go To Coffee with Chuck D
by Dean Engmann
The next time you're watching the tube, and you hear one of those Buddy Lee commercials come on, pay attention!  Chuck D has a small cameo where he's drinking coffee.  I personally think it's cool...it shows respect for Chuck, as well as the fact that Buddy Lee rhymes with Chuck D, so it works out well...Here's a picture...and if you're not a big TV watcher (like me)...you can check out the Lee Dungarees website, then click on the Theatre Starring Buddy Lee at the right side of the page, then Buddy Lee on Screen, and then "Street" and then your dialup speed.  You'll need Quicktime installed in order to see the video..

7.12.01 9:05:36 am  PE Is Back..Fans Get to Work on New Album
(from Davey D's website) by Davey D
Talk about groundbreaking.. One of Hip Hop's seminal groups Public Enemy is continuing on the path of englightment, entertainment and empowerment. Yesterday they have announced the release of a new album, due out this fall on Chuck D's own SlamJamz.com record label. Longtime proponents of artists rights and of working outside the conventional record company system, Chuck D and the legendary rap group will self-release the as-yet-untitled album in order to retain creative and marketing control, and ownership of their master tapes. Public Enemy will coordinate all marketing, publicity and radio promotion of the new album, and are currently evaluating offers from a number of distribution companies to handle the retailing.

According to Chuck's press release... This marks the first time the public is able to participate in the making of an album with a major artist . On July 12, Public Enemy will begin posting the vocals to several of their most popular tracks on the new website, www.slamjamz.com, allowing literally any user to download it for use. Each week for a month, a different track will be posted, including 'Public Enemy #1,' 'By The Time I Get To Arizona,' and 'Shut 'Em Down,' all recently re-recorded exclusively for website. This will be a great opportunity. I know for myself, I have long bothered Chuck and asked him to release an album containing the group's acapellas. Looks like they have taken this a full step further.  The group asks that any and all aspiring and professional musicians, remixers and producers record their own music for the tracks, download the vocals onto the new music, and upload it back onto the site. Chuck D will then cull through the entries, and select several to include on the new album. 'We want to hear everything from electronica to metal, slack-key to Brazilian jazz, even bluegrass and country,' he said. The winning tracks will be featured on the new album, with winners retaining co-ownership rights and earning royalties from the sale of each copy.

In addition, Public Enemy will enter the studio for the first time since the 1999 release of There's A Poison Goin' On', to record new tracks for the album. There's A Poison Goin' On was met with controversy and acclaim, as Public Enemy became the first major group to release an MP3 downloadable album on the Internet first, before it was available in conventional record stores. In protest, traditional retail outlets refused to stock the record, but eventually changed their policies to conform to the growing presence of music on the Internet.

Prior to the album's release, the band will issue (in partnership with Creamwerks Multimedia and HOB Digital) a live concert DVD, shot at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, CA. The band are also planning an international tour later in the year.


7.12.01  Chuck D Launches Online Record Label
(from BringTheNoise.com)
Earlier today Chuck D launched his revolutionary online record label, http://www.SlamJamz.com, in an ongoing effort to give up and coming artists an avenue to market their music to the public. In a statement posted at the website Chuck welcomes all "to the landing of slamjamz.com records, an MP3 label focusing primarily on singles."

He likens the label to the labels of yesterday, "This was an idea I've had for more than 5 years, something that would be a reminder of how record companies used to be. The Motowns, STAX, Atlantic, Chess, SUN, and even the early rap labels Enjoy, Profile, Tommy Boy and yes Sugarhill, labels who rode on the spontenaety of cutting sounds, on what was happening right then on the street, and gettin it back out on it."

As a part of the launch Chuck D and Public Enemy are offering up and coming music producers the opportunity to be involved, musically, on the next Public Enemy album. Each week for the next four weeks a classic Public Enemy song, featuring all new vocals from Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Professor Griff will be available at the site for download. Perspective PE producers will create music for the featured acappellas and upload back to slamjamz.com to be considered by Chuck D and Public Enemy for a spot on their next album. Chuck's intention is to be totally interactive with his fans and the record buying public.

Once again on the cutting edge of music and technology SlamJamz utilizes a revolutionary method of delivering artists music to the public, while insuring artist get paid directly for their songs. "The system we're proposing is driven by a growing community, involving community and shares in artists. We don't sign artists we sign masters, as well as license them."

Be sure to stop in and check out the new online, interactive record label at http://www.SlamJamz.com... Another Chuck D Operation...


6.13.01 2:32 am et  Hip-Hop Summit probes rap's potential
(from Yahoo Daily News) By Justin Oppelaar
NEW YORK (Variety) - Hip-hop music and culture, which have already proved a force for generating profits, ought now to evolve into a power for the betterment of the community it depicts, argued a group of academics, artists and social leaders gathered Tuesday for the Hip-Hop Summit.

The summit, organized by Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons, runs through Wednesday and includes discussions and speeches on hip-hop's role in the music industry, politics, youth culture and social responsibility, as well as the potential political and social power wielded by hip-hop culture.

``The political moment for the hip-hop generation has arrived,'' said Manning Marable, director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University. ``We must find a new language of resistance.''

Tuesday's participants included U.S. Rep. Cynthia Hilliard (D-Ga.), former National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People head Benjamin Mohammed, Recording Industry Assn. of America chief Hilary Rosen and rapper-activist Chuck D.

In front of a room packed with media, hip-hop artists and spectators, Chuck D accused the major conglomerates in the entertainment industry of quelling new artist development and grass-roots entrepreneurship in hip-hop music.

``The corporations are all in collusion with one another and it's a damn shame,'' said Chuck D, a co-founder of the politically charged rap group Public Enemy.

The media industry also bears some responsibility for pigeonholing African-American culture based on the narrow stereotypes of materialism and misogyny portrayed by a few mega-selling rap artists, author and NYU professor Tricia Rose added.

Since that minimization of hip-hop culture comes from ceding control to companies looking for a profit, she noted that ``we have to find a space to define our culture that's outside the market.''

But Jeff Johnson, current head of the NAACP's youth division, also offered a mea culpa on behalf of his organization, noting that the leaders who are supposed to represent the hip-hop generation have lately been more apt to talk about problems than act to solve them.

``The NAACP has been absent,'' he said. ``We accept the fact that we're going to do more than we've been doing.''

Other leaders observed that hip-hop artists themselves bear a hefty responsibility to lead by example.

Harvard U. professor Cornel West stressed the importance of music as both a reflection of and an agent for change in society, citing historical examples ranging from Miles Davis to Marvin Gaye. Hip-hop, despite its flaws, is capable of carrying on that legacy, he added.

``I'm like the blues,'' West said. ``I'm not optimistic, but I'm full of hope.''


6.12.01  P. Diddy, Luther Campbell On Hand As Rap Summit Begins
(from VH1 website) by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway
NEW YORK — Hip-hop artists, record executives, politicians and journalists debated marketing strategies, discussed civil rights and aired some beefs in a series of largely private meetings Tuesday, the first day of Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit.

P. Diddy, Scarface, Talib Kweli, Jermaine Dupri, Luther "Luke" Campbell and the Wu-Tang Clan's U-God were among the artists who showed up at the New York Hilton for the summit, and much more firepower is expected Wednesday, when Eminem, Jay-Z, Will Smith and Queen Latifah are on the guest list and the Rev. Louis Farrakhan is scheduled to give the keynote speech.

But one artist was already bemoaning the turnout.

"One thing that's not too good is that you don't see too many artists," said Campbell, who was at the center of a rap lyrics controversy in the late 1980s with the 2 Live Crew. "You've got a lot of executives. It needs to be a little bit more artists because we are the ones that's actually responsible."

The day's biggest panel discussed hip-hop's empowerment and lack thereof in government. Chuck D and Talib were joined by political figures that included activist Martin Luther King III and Reps. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Earl Hilliard of Alabama.

Among the topics broached were payola, lack of education in the black community and, of course, the effect rap music has on young people. King said there is a desperate need to bridge the gap between the hip-hop generation and the older political figures.

"In 2001 you've got to find a way to communicate with young brothers and sisters or you'll find yourself unnecessary," he said.

"I think that it was a good thing ... that [Congress] is involved," Campbell said. "Cats need to get involved, link up and decide on how they gonna deal with all these bills that's out there, trying to shut hip-hop down."

Campbell said he experienced déja vu last week when the FCC fined a Colorado radio station for playing an edited version of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady."

"One thing about the panel I learned is how so many black executives did not know where the labeling came from, how many cats that really didn't know what was going on as far as censorship in the hip-hop game," Luke said after the panel. "I always thought I was going through that struggle 12 years ago by myself, and that just confirmed that. Nobody had any idea — it's reteaching and rethinking all over."

A new way of thinking is something Chuck D hopes the summit can get across to radio program directors, he said, because right now they don't play a wide enough variety of hip-hop.

"Music has more to offer," Chuck lamented after his panel. "Every story has to have their fair chance to be told. When it comes to our community, bad news is the only news that's told. Hip-hop sometimes follows that trend, [but] we can break it now."

As the day progressed, hip-hoppers and their CEO bosses — including Violator's Chris Lighty and Def Jam's Lyor Cohen — started to filter in and politick. P. Diddy, however, was in no mood to rub elbows. Bad Boy's CEO slid in unnoticed through a back entrance and attended a closed-door meeting for label A&Rs focusing on their artists' content.

The day started with a private meeting among label representatives to discuss marketing strategies, with RIAA president Hilary Rosen among those who spoke. A youth roundtable and a meeting about media responsibility followed, and Reverend Farrakhan also privately talked to some MCs. The Nation of Islam leader, who'll be on hand Wednesday as well, has been trying to help feuding rappers come to a peaceful resolution.


6.12.01  Sevendust, Lit, Chuck D Salute Twisted Sister
(from VH1 website) by Robert Mancini
A little rouge goes a long way.

Lit, Motörhead, Sevendust, Joan Jett, Anthrax and Chuck D are among the acts lined up to salute Twisted Sister on Twisted Forever, a 16-track tribute to the '80s glam metal icons due in August.

Joan Jett has recorded the band's signature hit "We're Not Gonna Take It," while Lit (who landed Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider for their "Zip-Lock" video) will offer a version of "I Wanna Rock."

Motörhead, Sevendust, Anthrax and Chuck D dig deeper into the band's catalog, pitching in renditions of "Shoot 'Em Down," "I Am (I'm Me)," "Destroyer" and "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)," respectively.

Sebastian Bach, Fu Manchu, Nashville Pussy, Nine Days, Overkill, Cradle of Filth, Vision of Disorder, the Step Kings and Hammerfall also step into the band's color-coded boots for the album.

Twisted Sister themselves even get in on the act, offering a cover of AC/DC's "Sin City," a favorite during the band's early rehearsals.

The project has been in the works for years, and at one point, Slipknot, Kittie and Type O Negative were also talked about for the album (see "Lit, Slipknot, Others May Tribute Twisted Sister"). However, those acts will not appear when the album arrives on August 14.

Twisted Forever tracklist:
Lit - "I Wanna Rock"
Joan Jett - "We're Not Gonna Take It"
Motörhead - "Shoot 'Em Down"
Nashville Pussy - "The Kids Are Back"
Nine Days - "The Price"
Chuck D - "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)"
Anthrax - "Destroyer"
Overkill - "Under the Blade"
Cradle of Filth - "The Fire Still Burns"
Vision of Disorder - "Don't Let Me Down"
The Step Kings - "Burn in Hell"
Fu Manchu - "Ride to Live, Live to Ride"
Sebastian Bach - "You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll"
Hammerfall - "We're Gonna Make It"
Sevendust - "I Am (I'm Me)"
Twisted Sister - "Sin City"