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Video: Public Enemy on It Takes A Nation Of Millions…

Pitchfork produced this amazing video featuring Public Enemy reflecting back on their groundbreaking album It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us back which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The forum features Chuck D, as well as Hank and Keith Shocklee of the Bomb Squad production team. I recently got to talk and hang out with Chuck D and Flava Flav in Montreal and they are the most real and down to earth people you will ever meet.

Part 2 and 3 after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Public Enemy

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Hip-Hop

Public Enemy in XXL

photo courtesy Heads of Wool/XXL

My boy Dennis (Heads of Wool) interviewed Public Enemy while we were in Montreal earlier this month and his feature made XXL! Check out the interview at XXL.com and watch Chuck (and Flav, sometimes) share some knowledge about the upcoming election.

Also, check the coverage of Public Enemy’s press conference and performance on this site.

Tags: Public Enemy

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Performance: Public Enemy at Montreal Jazz Festival 2008

Public Enemy played It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in order from beginning to end, with commentary in between.

It was like a live version of VH1 Storytellers with Chuck droppin’ such tidbits how Hank Shocklee at the last minute flipped the ordering of the songs of the cassette and played many songs for the first time live. And yeah, just like De La Soul, PE railed against the 20 minute sets that some hip-hop artists try to pass off as a live performance. Public Enemy went on for over 2 hours.

MORE PHOTOS AT THE FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Bonus: Flava Flav on the drums!

Flava Flav Drum Solo from Couch Sessions on Vimeo.

Tags: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival, Public Enemy

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Press Conference: Public Enemy at the Montreal Jazz Festival 2008

With Flava Flav in the building, we already knew that this would not be just any ordinary press conference.

Say what you want about the man, but the dude is living life to the fullest. I ran into Flav twice in Montreal and he’s keeps it real—he’s the same person that you see on TV, no matter if he’s in the bar, in the elevator, or at a press conference. Chuck D, on the other hand is the exact polar opposite of Flav. Yes, we know that already, but to see these two side by side only heightens their differences.

Chuck and Flav are like brothers, with Flav being his loud and rambunctious self going off topic more than once and giving off the wall answers for seemingly straight-forward questions, and Chuck being quiet and collective and overtly political. Even though there was reported tension when Flav started taping his Flavor of Love series on VH1. In 2006 when the series debuted, Chuck criticized Flav’s choice of action in 2006, but there is nothing but love on stage, with Chuck defending Flav and noting the fact that he invented his role as a hype man, as well as pointing out the diversity of the Public Enemy lineup.

However, the younger generation will never really know the social impact of Public Enemy. Questions like “how does Delicious taste?” and “how can I be a cameraman on Flavor of Love?” seem to be the norm now at Public Enemy pressers. Chuck, for his part, steered the conversation back to politics.

With Public Enemy being North of the Border, Chuck focused on Canadian issues. “United States, is the new Mexico,” Chuck declares as he rails on government border policies, and the difficulty that now exists to cross into Canada. In fact, Professor Griff couldn’t make it across the border to Montreal. Chuck also remarked that Canada might become the next superpower because of its large oil, natural gas, and water reserves in relevance to its sparse population.

Of course, with the possibility of the first Black president in our nations history, the media was anxious to hear Chuck D’s take on the election, and it was predictably dire: “You’re gonna see some shit that you ain’t never seen before. You’re gonna see some shit that you ain’t never heard before…sit back, pull up a chair and watch the greatest reality show in the world.” Flav lightened the mood though by talking about how Obama recalled to a journalist that he can never be as Black as Flava Flav. “The fact that I occupy space in that man’s brain is a blessing to me.”

Chuck is also sour on the current state of hip-hop. According to Chuck, the current generation of hip-hop has lost its focus by trying to get rich quick rather than developing the skill of MCing and DJing. He did big up Canadian artists such as K-OS and Kardinal Offishall as well as Much Music and Musique Plus (Canadian Music Video Channels), for promoting hip-hop artists who wouldn’t be given a chance on MTV.

Public Enemy is the self declared “Rolling Stone of hip-hop,” dropping 12 albums over their 25plus year career, and performing in over 67 countries. But do they fit today’s notion of popularity? Chuck got testy when a journalist called Public Enemy popular. “Popular? That’s news to me. I drove my 1997 Acura up here.”

Popular or not, Public Enemy are legends who should not be missed when they come through your town.

Tags: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival 2008, Public Enemy

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Negroclash!

Montreal

So yeah, most of y’all know that I love traveling.

After I turned 21 I told myself that I need to get out of the city at least once a year to stay sane. In 2008 I had a tough internal decision: go back to London or pick a new city for debauchery. An associate that I know invited me to Montreal to cover Jazz Fest, and naturally, I was in.

See, for some reason I’ve had this itching to get to Montreal. I don’t know why, but the city has been on my hotlist for a hot minute now. Reading Dallas Penn’s blogs about his trip didn’t help.

So yeah, Jazz Fest is supposedly off the chain, and the tickets are already booked. Of course this is all dependent on if my passport situation works out (nothing major, I just got to get a new one within 3 weeks). Only problem is that this is the first time I’m going to be in a city and not know anybody. And although I’m meeting people at Jazz Fest, for the most part I’m going to be roaming the streets by myself. If you are reading this and reside in the Montreal area PLEASE hit me up. I know nothing bout the city and can’t speak a lick of French. I’m reaching out to all my Canadian readers, all two of y’all, to help me on this.

I might be podcasting, trying to highlight the culture and scene of Montreal, but its highly unlikely. First and formost this is a vacation/musical experience.

As for jazz fest, I booked tickets to the De La Soul/Ghislain Poirier show on Saturday, June 28th, the Public Enemy show on Monday, June 30th, and for UK blue eyed soul singer Alice Russell’s show on Friday June 27th. I will keep y’all posted on updates.

Tags: Alice Russell, De La Soul, Ghislain Poirier, Jazz Fest, Montreal, Public Enemy

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