Chuck D names the most underrated hip-hop songs ever made
Chuck D is a walking encyclopedia of hip-hop and rap music. From books to documentaries, the Public Enemy frontman has chronicled the culture’s story and evolution. From its inception in the 1970s to now, Chuck D has dedicated his life to spreading the sound and story of hip-hop across the world.
Furthermore, he has been receptive to the offshoots of the genre all over the world, regardless of where it comes from, due to his love for the culture. That said, he knows a lot and has his eyes on artists around the globe.
Following the release of Chuck D’s 2023 documentary Fight The Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, the ‘Rebel Without A Pause’ lyricist sat down for an in-depth conversation with D Watkins for Salon Talks to speak about the effect that hip-hop has had on the world and give some of his opinions about music past and present.
The conversation touched on various issues. Naturally, it included some dialogue around the importance of black art and culture in the US and around the world. While speaking with Watkins, the emcee stated, “You ain’t got to like hip-hop! I know people that don’t like sports… be honest and say, ‘I don’t really dig hip-hop.’ The thing is, when you say you love it, what do you love about it? A lot of times when people say they love hip-hop, I ask them, ‘Do you love black people?’”
He continued, “It has a lot to do with it! Because our expression, our codic, has come out of the fact that we weren’t able to express ourselves, therefore music and culture took a higher order to communicate to the rest of the planet what we saw, what we felt and how we just wanted to be accepted too.”
Still, Chuck D, in his wisdom, understood that this post-slavery desire to use music as a way of communicating manifested itself in different ways across the globe, and as a worldly man, he explained how his radio station, RAPstation was founded to showcase and connect DJs and MCs doing their thing across the planet.
When asked to name some of his favourite hip-hop songs of all time, Chuck named some classics. However, he also made sure to list some amazing hip-hop songs that he believes are underrated.
“Top songs! I always got songs swimming in my head from all different genres, but I can keep it to hip-hop and rap for this conversation, and I can say ‘Ladies First’ by Queen Latifah, Monie Love and crew. I can say ‘The Message.’”
However, he then expressed his love for lesser-known tracks as well, exclaiming, “I can say off-cuts as well like ‘Hey DJ’ by the world famous Supreme Team. Who’s ever put that in a top 10? Skyzoo and Termanology just came out with a dope cut. Amy True from the UK got a cut called ‘BLAM’, Sampa The Great and Angélique Kidjo got a cut called ‘Let Me Be Great’. She’s from Zambia, and Angélique Kidjo is from Benin!”
Chuck D names the most underrated hip-hop songs:
- ‘Hey DJ’ – World Famous Supreme Team
- ‘Live My Life’ – Termanology ft Skuzoo
- ‘BLAM’ – Amy True
- ‘Let Me Be Great’ – Sampa The Great ft Angélique Kidjo