| Public Enemy
Few bands have changed the course
of music and entertainment in the way that the Beastie Boys
and Public Enemy have. Chuck D and Flavor Flav have been
Public Enemy from the beginning, and whether Terminator
X is behind the turntables or not, the jams have always
been educational and hard hitting.
Although the popularity of Public
Enemy has declined in recent years, with the emergence of
highly commercial hip hop for the masses, PE still remains
cutting edge and the fact that they are more underground
now makes their departure from Def Jam that much cooler.
It was Chuck D who Russell
Simmons entrusted with the task of making the as of
yet unreleased 1989 Def Jam Beastie Boys album The White
House. The story goes that Chuck was asked to work on
adding a wall of sound to what were left over rhymes and
unfinished songs that the Beastie Boys had recorded for
Def Jam during the Licensed
to Ill days. Yet once Chuck listened to Paul's
Boutique, he declined to continue the White House
project. Some people speculate that the album was finished;
others say it was never more than just talk. Obviously some
of the leftovers from Licensed to Ill include: I'm
Down, The Scenario and Desperado, which have all appeared
on unlicensed releases in recent years.
It was also Chuck D, who because
of his long history with the Beastie Boys, was asked to
present the band with the MTV Video Vanguard award. You
may also recall that it was Flavor Flav who joined the Beastie
Boys on stage in 1994 when the band played in New York during
the Lollapalooza tour. Both bands have shared the stage
more than a few times, but it was Chuck D's spoken word
appearances at the 1999 Mumia Benefit and the 1997 Tibetan
Freedom Concerts that prompted many newer Beastie Boys fans
to ask the question....who is this guy?
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