PE
UBLIC
INTERVIEW
MELES
"We, the members of Public Enemy, have
been, like millions of others. Long-time Victims Of and
Servants To Racism (White Supremacy) in all areas of
activity. Our experiences, observations, and/or studies,
have led us to believe the following:
Racism has done more to promote non-justice
than any other socio-material system known to have
been produced, or supported, by the people of the
known universe.
NEMY
No major problem
that exists between
the people of the
known universe can
be eliminated until racism is eliminated.
The most important question in all
"racial matters" is "Why?" One should
always ask it."
Public Enemy Factsline, 1/20/91
THE PAST
1979: The Long Island hip-hop
scene is booming, thanks largely to
the efforts of master producer Hank
Shocklee, who hooks up with ad-
man/M.C. Chuck D. They become
partners and work on marketing hip-
hop to give it credibility and visibility..
Hank, Chuck. Bill Stepney. Harry
Allen and Dr. Dre (among others) form
a coalition to pump up every aspect of
hip-hop on Long Island. Beats boom
from college radio stations like WPAU
Long Island, Chuck and Dre have
radio shows, live gigs are promoted on
TV and the limited number of hip-hop
videos get some amount of airtime
(usually alongside alternative music.
like Cabaret Voltaire).
1985: Hip-Hop explodes. Def Jam
(Run DMC's label) goes multinational
by inking a major pact with CBS, then
signs LL Cool J and the Beastie
Boys, Rick Rubiti, advised by Run
DMC, approaches Chuck to be the
third act in this power-packed stable.
Chuck is stoked, but decides to break
the standard rapper/DJ format and
develop a new formula Chuck D.
(rapper) Terminator X (DJ) Flavor
Flav (M.C.)+ S1Ws ("something else
in itself) P.E. in full effect!
THE PRESENT
Tell me about the new record.
It's called Apocalypse '91: The
Enemy Strikes Black. Apocalypse
means a force that destroys evil. I'm
talking about certain elements that are
fucking us up right now. My game
plan is to attack these elements.
Who do you mean by "us"?
I mean the black community: people
who have been misdirected by the
mainstream curriculum that tries to
cover up all the dirt. Instead of teach-
ing people to be less ignorant and
telling them about the facts, they just
cover it all up. It leads to black-on-
black crime, it leads to genocide. it
Yeads to people who sell drugs, murder
people, ob, steal-all products of ill
deceit. I feel I have to talk about these
things, tell peuple straight out. Once
you know, there's no excuse.
My philosophy is that once you're
over eighteen, you'd better be under
the priority of business and responsi
bility. We got fun and we got games.
but once you're over eighteen, the fun
and games are played on you. The
more you're about business and re-
sponsibility, the more room there is
for your own fun and games. We got
too many adolescents who are over
eighteen. They say "Well, the world is
crumbling. I'll do whatever I want.
No. That doesn't mean you have to
crumble with it.
It's obvious your message is pri-
marily to black people, but it
seems to apply to other people.
To white as well. Especially in
America, where they haven't really
heard the black story. They've had to
go through someone else's perspective
to hear it. Rappers have a story to tell
that white America, especially the
youth, has always been interested in
hearing. They want to become less ig-
norant of the facts, too. Some may
not be easily digestible, but not every-
thing is easily digestible when it's been
hidden for so long.
When you write your songs, are
you trying to address anyone in
particular, change something by
what you're saying, or just ex-
press what you feel?
Express what I feel and what I see.
Because the more you're in tune with
your community, you fool what they
feel, and see what they see. You can
be analytical if you have a good feel
about what all your constituents see.
What is your constituency?
It's the black community around the
work. Whether it's in Australia or in
Zimbabwe. It could be in Brazil, it
could be on 125th Street in New York,
it could be in Tulsa! It's exciting for me
to
study my people, and I know they
have basically the same complaints.
They have caught so much hell from
the white structure and the white man
and this system, and they would like
to catch less of it. They don't want to
deal with any of it. That's pretty much
the common denominator.
What about the American political
and economic structure?
The political structure is still one-
sided, very hypocritical and does not
reveal its true face to everybody. The
economic structure is crumbling be-
cause it's too lopsided. Whenever
there are more have nots than haves,
you've got a problem.
THE FUTURE
What do you think is going to
happen in the next ten years?
I don't make predictions, but if
more black people don't control what
we create, if we're not equal, we're
going to be in trouble. Black people.
need to control their destiny. We as a
Black community have to gel our
philosophies together. We thrive too.
much on individualism and the ideolo-
gy of "we're all people." Reality says
you've got to protect yourself in this
system. Then you can build families. A
community is a bunch of families that
respect each other. A family is a group
whose members have something in
common. We have to build respect in
our family, the black community.
Do you have a message for the
kids who read Thrasher?
Pick up as much information as you
can about other people. Try not to say
anything until you get two or three
sides of the story, at least. Learn them
all and then make your decision be-
fore you just make it based on one
side. Okay? Peace.
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