Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960 in
Roosevelt, New York), better known by his stage name,
Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the late 1980s as the leader of the rap group
Public Enemy.
Biography
Early life
Ridenhour was born in
Roosevelt,
Long Island. After graduating from
Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, he went to
Adelphi University in
Long Island to study
Graphic Design.
Career
Upon hearing Ridenhour's demo track "Public Enemy Number One", fledgling producer/mogul
Rick Rubin insisted on signing him to his
Def Jam label.
Chronologically, their major label albums were:
Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987),
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988),
Fear of a Black Planet (1990),
Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black (1991),
Greatest Misses (1992), and
Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (1994). They also released a
full length album soundtrack for the film
He Got Game in 1998. Ridenhour also contributed (as Chuck D) to several episodes of the
PBS documentary series
The Blues. He has appeared as a feature artist on many other songs and albums, having collaborated with artists such as
Janet Jackson,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Dope Poet Society,
Run-DMC,
Ice Cube and many others. In 1990, he appeared on "
Kool Thing", a song by the
alternative rock band
Sonic Youth. In 1993, he executive produced
Got 'Em Running Scared, an album by
Ichiban Records group "Chief Groovy Loo and the Chosen Tribe".
Later career
In 1996, Ridenhour released
Autobiography Of Mistachuck on
Mercury Records. In November 1998, he
settled out of court with Christopher "
The Notorious B.I.G" Wallace's estate over the latter's
sampling of his voice in the song "Ten Crack Commandments". The specific sampling is Ridenhour counting off the numbers one to nine on the track "Shut Em Down".
In September 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the web site Rapstation.com. A home for the vast global hip hop community, the site boasts a TV and radio station with original programming, many of hip hop's most prominent DJs, celebrity interviews, free
MP3 downloads (the first was contributed by multi-platinum rapper
Coolio), downloadable
ringtones by
ToneThis, social commentary, current events, and regular features on turning rap careers into a viable living. Since 2000, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of Internet music
file sharing in the music industry.
He loaned his voice to
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as DJ Forth Right MC for the radio station
Playback FM. He appeared with
Henry Rollins in a cover of
Black Flag's "Rise Above" for the album
Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. He was also featured on
Z-Trip's album
Shifting Gears on a track called
Shock and Awe; a twelve inch of the track was released featuring artwork by
Shepard Fairey. He recently contributed a chapter to
Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a.
DJ Spooky. Recently he contributed to
The Go! Team's album
Proof of Youth on the track "Flashlight Fight." In 2008 he fulfilled his childhood dreams of being a sports announcer by performing the play-by-play commentary in the video game NBA Ballers: Chosen One on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
In 2009, Ridenhour wrote the foreword to the book
The Love Ethic: The Reason Why You Can't Find and Keep Beautiful Black Love by Kamau and Akilah Butler. He also appeared on
Brother Ali's album, "
Us".
Politics
Ridenhour is extremely politically active; he co-hosted
Unfiltered on
Air America Radio, testified before
Congress in support of
peer-to-peer MP3 sharing, and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention. He continues to be an
activist, publisher, lecturer, and producer. Addressing the negative views associated with rap music, he co-wrote the essay book
Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality, along with
Yusuf Jah (ISBN 0-385-31868-5). He argues that "music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality", but sometimes the distinction is blurred and that's when "things could lead a young mind in a direction." He also founded the record company Slam Jamz and acted as narrator in Kareem Adouard's short film
Bling: Consequences and Repercussions, which examines the role of
conflict diamonds in
bling fashion.
In an interview with
Le Monde published 29 January 2008 , Chuck D stated that rap is devolving so much into a commercial enterprise, that the relationship between the rapper and the record label is that of slave to a master. He believes that nothing has changed for African-Americans since the debut of Public Enemy and, although he thinks that an Obama-Clinton alliance is great, he does not feel that the establishment will allow anything of substance to be accomplished. He also stated that French President Sarkozy is like any other European elite: he has profited through the murder, rape, and pillaging of those less fortunate and he refuses to allow equal opportunity for those men and women from Africa. In this article, he also defended a comment made by Professor Griff in the past that he says was taken out of context by the media. The real statement was a critique of the Israeli government and its treatment of the Palestinian people. Chuck D stated that it is Public Enemy's belief that all human beings are equal.
In an interview with the magazine
N'Digo published in late June 2008, he spoke of today's mainstream urban music seemingly relishing in the addictive euphoria of materialism and sexism, perhaps being the primary cause of many people harboring resentment towards the genre and its future. However he has expressed hope for its resurrection, saying "It’s only going to be dead if it doesn’t talk about the messages of life as much as the messages of death and non-movement", citing artists such as
NYOil,
M.I.A. and the
The Roots as socially conscious artists who push the envelope creatively. "A lot of cats are out there doing it, on the Web and all over. They’re just not placing their career in the hands of some major corporation."
Most recently Chuck D became involved in
Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights, a 3-CD box set from Time Life. He wrote the introduction to the liner notes and is visiting colleges across the nation discussing the significance of the set. He's also set to appear in a follow up movie called
Let Freedom Sing: The Music That Inspired the Civil Rights Movement.
TV appearances
- Narrated and appeared on-camera for the 2005 PBS documentary Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World.
- Appeared on-camera for the PBS program Independent Lens: Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.
- Appeared in an episode of NewsRadio as himself.
- He appeared via satellite to the UK, as a panelist on BBC's Newsnight on 20 January 2009, following Barack Obama's Inauguration.
Film appearances
- He is the narrator of the 2006 documentary Quilombo Country, directed by Leonard Abrams.
- He is prominently featured in Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a 2006 documentary by Byron Hurt.
- He is featured in a web- mini series called On The Real Off The Record, produced by, The Real News Network, June 1 2009 - .
Discography
With Public Enemy
Chuck D
