Chuck D

Rock and Roll Hall of famer, icon and hip-hop legend, Chuck D is a social activist, author, multimedia producer, digital music pioneer and visual artist. He first rose to acclaim in the 1980’s with a string of critically lauded and commercially successful albums that addressed weighty issues about race, rage and inequality with a jolting combination of intelligence and eloquence never seen before.

The New York Times has named Public Enemy’s music to their list of the “25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century” and in 2005 The Library of Congress added Fear of a Black Planet to their National Recording Registry. “It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back” (15) and “Fear of A Black Planet” (176) were both named to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020 while “Fight The Power” was named #2 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2021 list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (which also included “Bring The Noise“). In 2013, Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2020 received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the GRAMMYs. When the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC began curating its archive, the group was asked to donate iconic items from their history and Chuck D has remained personally involved in the institution ever since.