By Michael Swanger

Chuck D spits the knowledge while Flavor Flav hypes the crowd. Photo by Randall Michaelson

Des Moines, consider yourself… WARNED. Public Enemy is coming to town.

“Bass! How low can you go?/Death row/What a brother knows.”

“Once again, back is the incredible/the rhyme animal/the incredible D, Public Enemy Number One.”

Twenty-one years after the release of its iconic album, “It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” arguably the most important rap music and hip-hop album, Public Enemy (PE) is finally making its Des Moines debut after all these years at the two-day 80/35 music fest on Friday, July 3. It is also performing “It Takes A Nation…” in its entirety — a rare fete — for the last time on U.S. soil, before concluding its “Nations Tour” on July 25 in Tokyo.

“I tell people all the time Iowa has always been one of the progressive states,” said Chuck D, PE’s Messenger of Prophecy, during a telephone interview from Atlanta. “When you tell the other 49 states, they’re like ‘huh?’ But they took notice last year [with President Barack Obama winning the Iowa Caucus].”

“Turn it up!/Bring the noise!”

To put PE’s “Nations Tour” performance in Des Moines in perspective for those who aren’t PE fans or hip-hop aficionados, it might be akin to Bob Dylan exclusively revisiting “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” or seeing the original lineup of the Sex Pistols recreate “Never Mind the Bullocks” live or James Brown performing “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud),” if that were possible. That’s how timeless the deep funk, creative arrangements and heady sampling of 1988’s “It Takes A Nation…” remains thanks to efforts of PE’s Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X and Professor Griff.

On the other hand, it might be like attending a highly charged political rally, or a speech by the Rev. Jesse Jackson or Nation of Islam Supreme Minister Louis Farrakhan, some of PE’s heroes. That’s how timeless the rebellion, poetic protest rhymes and (what some say) unapologetic Black Nationalism of “It Takes A Nation…” remains. Just as the line “Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude” repeated across the bottom of the album cover still resonates today.

In short, it should serve as a powerful reminder of how PE revolutionized the hip-hop (and larger) world with its political, social and cultural consciousness on songs like “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” “Night of the Living Baseheads” and “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.” Those songs helped PE become one of the most important music acts of the last half of the 20th century and paved the way for PE anthems to follow like “911 (is a Joke),” which criticized a lack of urgency by emergency officials in black communities; “Fight the Power,” the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s movie “Do the Right Thing”; and “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” which railed against the 48th state for not recognizing the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday as a national holiday.

“The album holds well over the years like ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ for the Beatles. It’s fun to do, and it’s challenging. It’s an extremely fast record, and you’re 20 years older. So you do the records or the records do you, and we do it quite well,” said 48-year-old New York native Chuck D, whose voice is described by PE Producer Hank Shocklee as “the voice of God in a thunderstorm.”

Amedeo Rossi, 80/35 project manager, said he saw YouTube clips of PE’s “Nations Tour” performance last year at the Pitchfork festival in Chicago and was inspired to book the band.

“They’re one of the immortals of all time,” he said. “It was a pretty easy decision to make. Public Enemy began crossing white people over to black culture during the ’80s. Their lyrics are almost ingrained in our language.”

So too is PE’s groundbreaking work in helping to create and define “rap metal” thanks to its 1991 collaboration with thrash metal band Anthrax on a remake of PE’s “Bring the Noise.” Over the years, it became the first hip-hop group to make extended world tours, and it helped change the Internet’s music distribution capability by being one of the first acts to release MP3 albums.

“It’s all part of the culture and in the mix,” Chuck D said. “And now because of technology, all the music and videos we ever did are readily available, whether you’re using an iPhone to pull up a YouTube video or iTunes, or whether you’re line wiring it for free at home.”

Public Enemy will “Bring the Noise” this weekend at the 80/35 music festival. Photo by Walter Leaphart

A lot of things have changed in the hip-hop and popular music world since executive producer Rick Rubin signed PE to Def Jam Recordings in 1986. The Long Island, N.Y., group founded by DJs Chuck D (Carlton Douglas Ridenhour) and Flavor Flav, the Cold Lamper, released its debut album, “Yo! Bum Rush The Show,” in 1987 and is one of the few rap pioneer groups that continues to tour and record today, maintaining its appeal to generations of hip-hop fans.

Chuck D, PE’s leader who transcends genres as a hip-hop pioneer, activist, college circuit lecturer, multi-media person and one of the most respected, articulate pop culture historians, spoke with Cityview about the current state of hip-hop, the music industry and the media. Naturally, we thought it best to let him speak in his own words.

CV: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in hip-hop over the years?

Chuck D: The level of negligence and unaccountability and rejection of responsibility by the artists to their constituents and their community. I don’t think the artists grow up and happen to be this way by themselves. I think the lack of infrastructure in rap music and hip-hop has really hurt it. In all other genres of music and even sports, they epitomize infrastructure to keep it going. They don’t just throw it on the wall and you happen to take what sticks. Rap music is strong, and it needs to pick itself up by its straps and say it can be just as big and bad as Metallica.

CV: What young artists do you like today?

Chuck D: I’m not going to be thoroughly impressed by somebody new coming out because there’s no way you can be brand new and know all the ropes and do the songs as well as you’re supposed to do. There can be some brilliance there, but the joy in seeing someone brand new is seeing someone having a chance to grow. That’s why I like the artists on my label, SLAMjamz, like Crew Grrl Order and Heet Mob. As far as the mainstream goes, I favor the independents over the majors. Just because the majors have somebody signed doesn’t make them the best to me. I’m a firm believer once you make something, you have to perform it well. That’s why I’m a big fan of groups. What has affected hip-hop is the lack of groups and the emphasis on the individual. There’s no way an individual without the chops of a surrounding cast can keep you captivated. The lack of stage dominance by rap artists is something we’ve got to reverse.

CV: Sounds like a formula for rock ’n roll, doesn’t it?

Chuck D: That’s how hip-hop started, with the DJ, the MC, the dancers and the other artists. It took advantage of all of those elements.

CV: You once called hip-hop “the African-American CNN.” Do you still believe that?

Chuck D: I would say hip-hop and rap is a worldwide cultural religion.

CV: Did you ever think it would get this big when you were starting your career?

Chuck D: I knew it would get as big as rock ’n roll because rock ’n roll was started by black people, too.

CV: It’s surprising how many people don’t know that, isn’t it?

Chuck D: If you believe the mainstream media and a lot of young writers — not the writers like yourself that really know what they’re talking about — they would have you think that rock started out with Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper. [Laughs] Talking about Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry is like something that’s not relevant to them when they caught on to the music midstream.

But the most disturbing aspect of this is the radio stations, MTV, VH1 and BET don’t emphasize the history of the music. Music is a cultural expression and everybody loves it. It has been so important in gelling the masses. But it’s disturbing that as much as people love it they know just as little about it… I think it’s a crime to not have the culture somewhat available in schools.

CV: What did you want to accomplish when you launched PE?

Chuck D: That it’s more than what you see or what you hear. When you see it live, it is the essence of something that you can feel and that it includes references of things that you might not have seen or learned and it brings it all full circle. As far as the artistry is considered, I want people to know that hip-hop and rap music is about being a performance art.

CV: Has it exceeded your expectations?

Chuck D: No, because I know it can be so much better. I’m envious of the infrastructure of rock sometimes, and sometimes I deserve to be. I don’t like negligence, and I don’t think anyone can own the culture. So when I see the culture used and abused by a bunch of people who have benefited off of it, and you see the contributors struggle for their own place in history, it’s disturbing to me. I’m usually the one that can out there and bite and fight and holler and say, “You just don’t do this.” Somebody’s gotta be the watchdog, and I like to be that.

CV: You’ve been a social watchdog, too. Is it more of an uphill battle these days to sing protest songs?

Chuck D: It is. You can’t let the record try to be the only thing that can make the change. Real people have to do real things. Sometimes you gotta dig the trench yourself in real life and in real terms.

I think the recording aspect can be an illusion and its virtuosity, which makes people think somebody else will do it so they get lazy and they don’t get involved. But in the words of James Brown, “I think it’s important for every adult to get up and get to it and get involved. If you get washed up in the morning, you should be involved in making society a little cleaner.”

CV: Where does your political and social commentary come from?

Chuck D: I was born in the ’60s, so Bob Dylan , Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, as well as Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Nina Simone were part of the soundtrack of my life the first 10 years. I learned if you say something, then it should say something.

CV: Does it bother you that activism isn’t as ingrained in the culture of today’s youth as it was during the ’60s?

Chuck D: Really, you only get 18 years to be a kid. But this society is extending it to 33. If you don’t realize that you’re grown up, then you’ll understand when someone closes a door in your face and here you are 30 years old and you can’t buy a home or you can’t get any credit and you’re forced to work remedial jobs. That’s when you realize you don’t have any rights. That means somebody fell asleep at giving them the tools to navigate through society and to not be a victim of what’s already set up for lower class people, which is usually people of color.

CV: What advice do you give young artists?

Chuck D: I tell them they have tools we didn’t have 20 years ago, like the Internet, home recording studios, hi-def video cameras and other technology, but that it still boils down to working on your artistry and not letting the technology use you.

I tell people to take the fame and fortune out of the mix and then ask themselves what they want to do. When you want fame and fortune, you just want the state lottery. So if your game is shitty, all the technology in the world is only going to magnify that. The stage hasn’t changed since Shakespeare. It doesn’t matter if people can download your song on a ringtone, you have to be an incredible artist first.

CV: Tell me about your radio show “On the Real” broadcast on Air America and what you like about it?

Chuck D: It’s not just the song for me; it’s the analysis of the performance that I like. I think the radio stations have failed because they don’t have the fortitude to bring across the music the way they should to the masses so they can understand it.

I’m getting ready to start a new show with Pacifica BAI, where I’m dealing specifically with the seed of what music is. It will be like a jazz show’s approach.

CV: Flavor Flav shocks those who are unfamiliar with him with his VH1 show, “Flavor of Love.” But anyone who has followed PE knows he’s been like that for years. Is his show a help or a hindrance to PE?

Chuck D: A combination of both, though I’d say it’s more of a help because Flavor Flav has been the same character since day one. So if anybody says he’s jarring to the image of PE, then they don’t know what PE is all about. It can be jarring if it gets magnified and everything else gets obscured. But is it really news that Flavor Flav is looking to date some women?

CV: How did you and Flavor Flav meet?

Chuck D: It was around 1982; we were both doing radio. He had a local following, and we evolved our styles and shows into a mix on college radio. Then we started doing mobile DJing and met Hank Shocklee and went from there.

CV: What is Hank Shocklee like as a producer?

Chuck D: He’s always been the Phil Spector of rap music and hip-hop — totally under-acknowledged. We just hope he doesn’t have any murder cases near him. [Laughs]

CV: What do you say to people who accuse rap artists of borrowing other people’s music?

Chuck D: They don’t have the right to speak. If Led Zeppelin does a riff that was something Robert Johnson or Willie Dixon wrote, it’s totally taking something and turning it into something else. There’s only so many riffs you can do and eventually they’re going to cross paths. Out of those limitations you will have some geniuses step up and make vodka out of milk and make you scratch your head and say, “What the hell?”

CV: What do you want people to take away from your music?

Chuck D: That’s it’s a wonderful introduction to an art form that can go head-to-head with rock ’n roll. One of the challenges I had in the early ’90s was with my good friends Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of Anthrax when we would do shows together and it forced us to step up our game. If you ever want to see a group taken to task on trying to stretch the limits of what it can do, come up against a thrash metal band like Anthrax or Metallica.

Now we have a group called The Banned, and they’ve been a wonderful addition to DJ Lords, who replaced Terminator X when he retired in 1999. The four of them when they get into it, it’s a different thing.

CV: Are you a pragmatic, pessimist or optimist?

Chuck D: I think I’m pragmatic and over the years I think I sometimes forget what that means. It’s about getting the job done, the best it can be done. CV

2009 80/35 Music Festival
When: July 3-4
Where: Western Gateway Park, downtown Des Moines, 13th and Locust streets
Tickets: July 3, $35 advance, $40 gate; July 4, $45 advance, $50 gate; two-day passes are $70 in advance and $80 at the gate. Children 11 and under are free with a paid adult. Up to two children per adult. Visit www.80-35.com or www.IowaTix.com, or call (515) 277-3727.
What to bring: blankets, small non-frame backbacks, one empty water bottle per person, factory sealed water, small snack, empty camelbacks, personal pocket-size point and shoot or disposable cameras.

What not to bring: Lawn chairs, coolers, umbrellas, large frame backpacks, professional photography equipment or SLRs, fireworks, illegal drugs, weapons.
Food & drink: Food prices vary. Wine and beer tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Bring three donated food items and receive a free water/pop ticket.
Parking: Numerous free parking ramps surround the festival grounds. Free and secured bike parking is offered on festival grounds.
Smoking: Is not permitted in the paid, gated area but is allowed in the free stages area.

Friday, July 3

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage
4 p.m. Tilly and The Wall
5:45 p.m. Matisyahu
7:30 p.m. Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks
9:30 p.m. Public Enemy

Mediacom East Stage
4 p.m. High school play-in winner
4:45 p.m. William Fitzsimmons
5:45 p.m. Modern Skirts
6:45 p.m. Maps and Atlases
7:45 p.m. The Nadas
8:45 p.m. House of Large Sizes

Meredith West Stage
4 p.m. Mooseknuckle
5:15 p.m. The Dig Angees
6:15 p.m. The Autumn Project
7:15 p.m. Occidental Brothers
8:30 p.m. Public Property
9:30 p.m. DJ Diverse
10:45 p.m. Brad Goldman and Jade Reed

Saturday, July 4

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage
Noon Poison Control Center
1:30 p.m. New Monsoon
3:15 p.m. Man Man
5 p.m. G. Love and Special Sauce
7 p.m. Broken Social Scene
9 p.m. Ben Harper and Relentless7

Mediacom East Stage
Noon Hanwell
12:45 p.m. Beati Paoli
1:45 p.m. Miss Derringer
2:45 p.m. Audrye Sessions
3:45 p.m. The Josh Davis Band
4:45 p.m. Wild Sweet Orange
5:45 p.m. Cleo’s Apartment
6:45 p.m. Mr. Baber’s Neighbors
8 p.m. Brother Ali

Meredith West Stage
Noon Anni Rossi
1 p.m. Baby Teeth
2 p.m. Paper Route
3 p.m. Girl in A Coma
4 p.m. Floodplane
5:15 p.m. Cymbals Eat Guitars
6:15 p.m. Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos
7:15 p.m. Maximilian Eubank
8:15 p.m. The Envy Corps
9 p.m. All Bugs
10 p.m. Al Brown
11 p.m. Flatform

More than just music

80/35 is packed with more than just music including fireworks, interactive art, kid’s activities, meet ‘n greets, street performances, and much more. Check out all the 80/35 extras planned for this year:
• Fireworks: Principal Financial Group Fireworks on Saturday, July 4 following Ben Harper and Relentless7.
• Dahl’s Kids Zone: Extended to two-days this year, running on Friday, July 3 from 3-7 p.m. and Saturday, July 4 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. There will be three gigantic inflatables, one for toddlers and two for kids up to age 10. Each day will also feature activities for kids including hula hoping, children’s bands, craft making, and more.
• Do-It-Yourself Craft Fair: On Saturday afternoon browse for purses, jewelry, and many handmade goods.
• CD Warehouse Meet ‘N Greet: Meet and get autographs from 80/35 bands.
• YPC Do More Village: Featuring more than 19 booths including 515 Alive, Art Noir, Crossroads Entertainment, One Iowa, Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, 4H Foundation, Yellow Brick Magazine, Des Moines Social Club, and many more.
• Sideshow Entertainment: Entertainers will include belly dancers, drummers, hula hoopers, live art, facepainters, henna artists and fire handlers.
• Food: Los Primos (Mexican), When Pigs Fly (BBQ), Gazali’s (gyros), Smiles & Gyros (gyros), Papa John’s (pizza), Urbgarden & Catering (veggie humus and wraps), Turkey Time (strawberry smoothies, hamburgers, brats), Iowa Machine Shed (pork tenderloins, apple dumplings, pulled pork), Hardenbrook Concessions (turkey legs, polish sausage), Alohana Grill (shaved ice, eggrolls, BBQ chicken), J’s Pita Grill (hot sausage, chicken and steak salads). Food prices will vary.
• Beer: Ames-based Olde Main Brewing Co. will provide microbrews at the festival including Long Face Amber Ale, Off KILTer Scottish Ale, Clone Pale Ale, Dinkey Wheat, and Gryphonbrau Lager. Beers will sell for $5 each or 5 for $20.
• Wine: Jasper Winery will provide Iowa wines. Wine will sell for $5 each or 5 for $20.
• Merch: Official 80/35 merch (including t-shirts, posters, stickers, buttons, and beach balls) and band merch will be available for purchase.
• Cool Zone: Relax under four misting fans and two port-a-cools.
• Late Night DJs: This year the free area musical entertainment will continue until 11 p.m. with DJs: DJ Diverse, Brad Goldman and Jade Reed, All Bugs, Al Brown and Flatform.

Comment on this story | Return to top