Chuck D to speak at Sacramento State

2010-02-03T07:43:03Z

Chuck D is a rebel without a pause. The co-founder of seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy is a rapper, author and activist. He refers to himself as a "raptivist," and "an ambassador for hip-hop."

Thursday night, D will give a free speech at Sacramento State, where he'll be talking about rap, race, technology and communication. The event will also be a celebration of Black History Month.

D likes to talk. Given that he writes a blog, tours the world on speaking gigs, and owns the SLAMjams music label, which recently threw together an iTunes album for Haiti, he is surprisingly available. He called me for an unscheduled interview, just a few minutes after I e-mailed him.

"You can't go through life afraid to speak your mind," he said. "That is what you have your mind for. You're not a robot. Companies make robots. You have the capacity to think beyond that."

Public Enemy holds itself to the same mantra. Including its debut, "Yo, Bum Rush The Show" in 1987, Public Enemy has released 10 ten albums, each one a complete reinvention for the group. It even released albums online before MP3s were popular.

Most importantly, Public Enemy defied listeners to remain open to different types of music and people. Their collaboration and tour with thrash metal group Anthrax is still groundbreaking. On top of that, Public Enemy was one of the first hip-hop acts to use songs like "Fight the Power," "Bring the Noise" and "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," as political statements.

"I think that people want to be (politically) active, but the business, the music industry, has not encouraged artists to go far out of the box," he said. "It's kind of like a controlled state."

But the future has hope. D wants artists to reach inside themselves and form their own opinions, he said.

"I think the thing that inspires me is young minds, especially on the collegiate level," he said. "It's important to understand that a lot of young minds are not corrupted by the things that have plagued society — they're like an open book."

Relative fame and fortune aside, the nearly 50-year-old D is still humble. He still has love for his longtime friend and Public Enemy co-founder Flavor Flav.

"He's the same Flavor Flav as he was on day one," D said. "It's no different than Bruce Springsteen and Little Stephen. (We're) still in the same band."

When the earthquake struck Haiti last month, he threw together a Haiti benefit album in five days by asking artists on his label to contribute songs. D reasoned that any dollar he can donate will be a dollar more than what the Haitians have now.

Chuck D, 7:30 - 10:30 p.m., CSUS University Union Ballroom, all ages, free.

Photograph credit Walter Leaphart

One Scary Nite a rowdy, spooky good time

2009-10-31T02:05:29Z

The irony of Flavor Flav hosting a Halloween party is that people actually dress in his everyday outfit for a celebration of this most dark of holidays.

The Public Enemy hype man and unlikely reality TV phenomenon arrived at the red carpet for the One Scary Nite Halloween party at the California Auto Museum with business partner Deon Taylor and retired Kings star Bobby Jackson. The trio hammed it up for the row of photographers, Flav flashing his gilded grill and trademark clock necklace while costumed party-goers yelled “Yeah boy!” as they filed into the horror-themed interior of the museum.

"I loved to go trick-or-treating when I was younger, but now I have kids so I take them," Jackson said. "I was gonna dress up as the hunchback but my costume was a little snug. I don't really have a favorite candy, but I do love Wathamacalits."

Inside, strobe lights cut through the darkness of the entrance where hired, professionally detailed ghouls with “Monster Staff” signs pinned to their backs dragged themselves around the room. Jason Vorhees sneaked behind unsuspecting victims and held his blood-drenched knife to their throats for photos while Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers rounded out the classic horror flick posse, aided by a small army of zombies in various states of decay.

A haunted hallway separated guests from the real action in the main room, where a massive dance floor lay in front of a stage equipped with a state-of-the-art DJ rig pumping club hits like Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface.” Werewolves and other such beasts shook their furry moneymakers with Playboy bunnies while go-go dancers grooved on three raised platforms on the floor.

Aside from the standard gruesome fare, more adventurous partiers traded comfort for creativity. The Master Chief from the wildly popular “Halo” video game series patrolled the room in full armor and weaponry, a Russell Crowe-style gladiator looked for combatants and a man with a huge stack of dollars with eyes on the top balanced on his shoulders was “the money you could be saving with Geico."

Co-host of the evening and “Good Day Sacramento” entertainment reporter Mark S. Allen stopped the party to say a few words.

“For a long time Sacramento needed a party like this,” Allen said. “Now we have one and it’s all thanks to you guys!"

Deon Taylor’s local enterprise bearing his name used a large screen hanging behind the stage to loop preview clips of the company’s “Nite Tales” TV series, a new horror program that will feature Flavor Flav essentially playing the same role as the Cryptkeeper from the classic “Tales From the Crypt” show.

The clock finally struck midnight and everyone converged on the center of the dance floor for what was promised to be a very special surprise performance. A red-suited Michael Jackson moonwalked onstage for a tribute to the sorely missed pop icon. Classics like “Billy Jean” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” were performed flawlessly, but the real highlight was a fitting rendition of “Thriller,” with the entire monster cast joining for the song’s famous choreographed dance sequence.

After the special entertainment exited, all eyes were directed up at a plastic bag full of $5,000 attached to the rafters of the museum. The bills rained down on the crowd in a flurry of green and were snatched out of the air and then scrambled for on the floor until the music kicked back on and everyone danced into the night with a bit more cash in their pockets.

Photos 1-7 by Jonathan Mendick.

Photos 8-14 by Cindy Saechao.

Interview quotes and press organization by Tina Armour, who got us on the red carpet.

Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "flavor flav"

Chuck D to speak at Sacramento State

One Scary Nite a rowdy, spooky good time