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When a communist thinks of
power to the people, Stalin or Mao may come to mind; for a
revolutionary, Che and Cuba. When an upper class conservative thinks of
power to the people he may scream "liberate Iraq." When a B-Boy thinks
of power to the people he thinks of Public Enemy number one, Africa
medallions, S-1W's, Flavor Flav, X hats, and of course, Chuck Dee.
Dee, the producer of classic bars, brought the hood such messages as
"fight the power," "shut em down," "burn hollywood burn," "my uzi weighs
a ton," and in not so political fashion "my 98."
During the late eighties and early nineties Chuck Dee was one of many
Emcees at that time using hip hop as the tool that it was designed to
be. In classic b-boy fashion he would have your head bobbin -- no pun
intended -- while he rocked knowledgeable and passionate lyrics.
Although this was the glory days of hip hop, very few hip hop artists
had the political influence of Chuck Dee.
Chuck Dee was to Hip Hop what Ali was to the black power movement, a
young man with his face in a mic rhyming and telling the world the
truth; no rocks, no chaser. It is no surprise that Chuck Dee mentioned
Ali as a major influence in his hip hop career.
The crowd was predominantly white and I doubt that more then a few
people in the room actually knew the man in the same way some of us did.
Most remember a quote here or there or references made about P.E. by an
older sibling or from that political science cool kid with Fanon's
Wretched of the Earth and Mao's little red book on his shelf and a
souvenir Free Mumia picket sign on his dorm room wall.
For me however, this was it. It was like being able to match energy to a
voice and face that you feel so familiar with. Public Enemy had played a
major role in my life as a b-boy; they not only taught me the influence
that an emcee could have on young minds but also brought the phrase "a
tongue is mightier then the sword" to my attention first hand.
Not being much of a computer head, I have missed Chuck Dee who lately
had been very active on a digital level. P.E. is still alive and
stomping in the cyber world as well as making moves abroad. In fact, one
of Chuck Dee's focal points in his recent appearance in the Twin Cities
was to get his listening audience to get more involved with the digital
world.
Given the fact that the event took place at the University of Minnesota,
it seemed as though he was preaching to the choir, or maybe it was a
personal message for me -- the guy referred to as Bobby anti-digital. He
stressed the point of individuals that are serious about life, human
struggle, justice, and economics, to take our world and make our
existence one that is global. It was refreshing to hear about hip hop's
influence on the world. The most important and impressive thing about
global hip hop was its ability and desire to stay true to its own
identity.
Telling stories about South American b-boys and their refusal to allow
some of the jigga boos America has forced into the Limelight to even
step foot into their hip hop venues, Dee referred to an incident in
Brazil where artists refused to perform at a concert featuring Snoop
Dogg and Ja Rule because promoters refused to reinvest profits back into
the local communities.
In the days of many modern-day "Stepin Fetchits," the world is refusing
to be bamboozled.
Chuck Dee shared his experiences of traveling the world and explained
that in every country he visits his fans are serious and passionate
about his message of "power to the people." He pushed Americans to
broaden their minds and get abreast of more global issues. Chuck
believed that if more Americans were aware of more global issues that it
would have prevented him from painfully being forced to ask Professor
Griff, the outspoken leader of the ever-present S-1W's to resign from
Public Enemy. According to Chuck Dee he was forced to ask Griff to
resign after he made comments about the conflict between Jerusalem and
Palestine. He had referred to the Jewish relationship to Hollywood and
the role they played in American politics. Statements that Chuck Dee
supported but because of Americans' lack of information at the time
surrounding the conflict, it was easy for Griff's comments to be
misconstrued by the America media. You could see the pain on his face
and hear it in his voice that this was obviously still a sore spot for
Chuck. "It was difficult for me, as the front man of the group, to
explain Griff's comments because he had more knowledge of the subject
then I did at the time and things only began to get worse" The decision,
met by bitterness from diehard fans, was critical to the financial
survival -- and therefore the survival -- of Public Enemy who had a much
bigger political agenda at the time.
"Stardom is a drug," according to Chuck Dee. To him, stardom is one of
the biggest problems with hip hop today. Dee maintains that because
rappers yearn to be in the lime light so much, they will do whatever it
takes to make it, with little regard for the impression or the effect
that they have on the world.
Who knew that Stepin Fetchit was one of the wealthiest African Americans
in America during the thirties? Chuck Dee lambasted the media as the
perpetrator of much of the destruction that has taken place inside of
the black community, pointing out that when most blacks were struggling
to survive during the depression, Fetchit rolled through the streets in
one of the toughest rides with "Stepin" painted on the door panel.
Chuck Dee continues with his mission and passion of bringing power to
the people. With an ever maturing political outlook, he continues to be
an outspoken voice in hip hop, at home and abroad.
Check out www.publicenemy.com |
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