Chuck D is prepping for a busy summer season. Following a Public Enemy efficiency in Napa Valley and one other at Boston Calling on the finish of Might, Chuck, Taste Flav, and crew head abroad for a handful of reveals in June earlier than becoming a member of Weapons N’ Roses on their As a result of What You Need & What You Get Are Two Utterly Completely different Issues tour. It’s a grueling schedule, with dates peppered all throughout Europe. They’ll finally return to the States towards the top of July, touchdown in Athens, Georgia, on July 22.
For Chuck, that is nothing new. As Public Enemy’s frontman, he’s been trotting across the globe for the reason that Eighties, bringing the group’s politically-charged anthems and militant fashion of the S1Ws to audiences in each nook of the world. Now 64, Chuck is certainly one of hip-hop’s few sexagenarians nonetheless rocking the mic, a subject he addresses on his new compilation undertaking, Radio Armageddon. Whereas the 14-track effort bridges the generational hole—contributions embrace gangsta rap innovator Schoolly D and Stetsasonic’s Daddy-O alongside up-and-comers like Miranda Writes—Chuck is laser-focused on the shortage of respect given to our hip-hop pioneers.
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“The ism of ageism is up there with sexism and racism,” Chuck D tells SPIN by cellphone. “Ageism is derailing elders.”
In contrast to rock ’n roll, the place artists like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger are touring into their 80s, hip-hop continues to be a comparatively youth-focused style, so there aren’t as many older artists blazing the path. Ice-T, Chuck, Taste Flav, Kurtis Blow, DJ Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash are among the many hip-hop legends of their 60s, they usually typically should struggle for his or her rightful place.
“Daddy-O, to me, did the perfect album of 2024 and no person lined it,” he factors out. “There’s no classification for traditional hip-hop. The curation of basic hip-hop needs to be not less than half of what basic rock has performed. I’m touring with a basic rock act this yr in stadiums. Now, basic rock is made up of so many teams out of the ’90s. Inexperienced Day is a basic rock group, they usually do no matter they need.
“I used to be with a rock group that was rattling close to a canopy band [Prophets of Rage] that did nice excursions all over the world, though we had authentic music and performed Rage Towards the Machine songs, Public Enemy songs, and Cypress Hill songs. When are we going to begin seeing hip-hop cowl bands? I feel we’re proper across the nook. It’s concerning the songs. The songs are the gods. After which one of the simplest ways to activate new generations to previous songs is performers which have the fervour to attach.”
Regardless of the uphill climb, Chuck continues to be testing the boundaries of his musical (and lyrical) craft, as evident on Radio Armageddon. From the chaotic, Bomb Squad-flavored lead single, “New Gens” that includes Daddy-O, to the frenzied feeling of “Rogue Runnin” with Phill Most Chill, some folks aren’t going to “get it,” and Chuck is at peace with that.
“It’s me doing a brand new fashion of being a grasp of ceremonies,” he says of the undertaking. “You’ve got the hip-hop god Daddy-O on ‘New Gens,’ and he’s extra typical, straight up with the rhyme on the beat. My factor was coming unorthodox from left discipline, and it’s not meant to be preferred. Typically we might go on a tangent. I don’t give a fuck about likes, and I don’t give a fuck about approvals on artwork as a result of I come from an artwork background. Nonetheless, once I’m presenting an MC, it’s totally different. I feel MCs like 1/2 Pint and Miranda Writes on ‘Is God She?’ are doing an outstanding job and will get the look.”
So far as the manufacturing, Chuck has entrusted David “C-Doc” Snyder, who he describes because the “Brian Eno of hip-hop,” to weave supercharged sonic threads into his personal barely tattered tapestry of sound. Tough across the edges at occasions but fascinating sufficient to warrant a head nod or two, Radio Armageddon primarily depends on Chuck’s authoritative voice to command consideration. Almost 40 years after releasing Public Enemy’s rallying cry, “Combat the Energy,” he continues to highlight essential points.
“Make racists afraid once more,” he raps on “Right here We Are Heard.” “They wanna construct a wall between us and Mexicans/Nonetheless on the skin lookin’ in/Based mostly on the pores and skin I’m in,” a somber reminder that the USA hasn’t made a lot progress in that division.
As Chuck stated, not everyone goes to “like” Radio Armageddon, however for many who need an expertise that equates to “listening to a radio station dipped in acid with Wu-Tang Clan preventing on the door, attempting to get in”—as Chuck places it—let the report play.
“It’s very onerous to introduce a sonic audio revolution in 2025, when everyone’s hooked on their screens,” he says. “Individuals don’t hear with their ears first anymore, they hear with their eyes, however C-Doc has invented the sudden flip manufacturing, and he’s discovered from the blueprint of the Bomb Squad however has turned it into this drive right into a ditch-type fashion that I don’t assume is precedented. He’s operating with the phrases and dancing with the beats.”
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