Chuck D’s favourite hip-hop group of all time
Chuck D’s impact on hip-hop is unparalleled and the musician, producer and writer has left an indelible mark on the culture. Chuck is an outspoken cultural figure and has dedicated his life to the production and documentation of rap music. Since his emergence as part of the legendary New York collective Public Enemy, the emcee (real name Carl Ridenhour) has been a voice for the disenfranchised youth of America and continues to speak on issues to this day.
Ridenhour was a star of the 1980s. The ‘80s was a pivotal decade for hip-hop. During its first full era of existence, the period saw an abundance of innovation and experimentation, which helped the genre grow and evolve into what we know it today.
With groups such as Public Enemy and NWA making the genre more rowdy, gripping and dynamic, the ’80s saw a sharp increase in the popularity of hip-hop. For the first time, rap music began entering the charts, and it even saw hip-hop hit TV screens.
However, few know that Public Enemy was thrust into the limelight because of the Jam Master Jay and Rick Rubin. While Ridenhour was making the group’s first album, he reached out to various artists and reached out for vocals from Rev Run and DMC. However, he rejected the idea of having a Jam Master Jay and Rick Rubin-produced record on his project.
In an interview with AllHipHop.com, Ridenhour explained how he constantly rejected Rubin and Jam Master Jay, unveiling, “I knew that was gonna put together an album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? So I reached out to people like George Clinton. And I reached out to Run and DMC and also Mike D, and Ad-Rock of The Beastie Boys.”
He continued to detail how, even when the two Def Jam legends were pleading with him, he was declining to work with them, revealing, “I don’t know how many rap artists actually were chased down for two years and kept saying no to anybody. People talk about bidding wars and all that but they wanted to do records. I was like “no” and from starting from 1984, with that song. Rick [Rubin] called the crib, and I’m like, ‘Nah, man, I’m not home.’ So I rejected a record for a label and a guy who’s a fledgling producer and had already proven himself with Run-DMC.”
However, he finally caved in to the pressure and “I rejected it until later on it was sort of like a surrender. We wanted to get into syndicated radio. Once I saw that that dream wasn’t going to happen I mean, syndicated rap radio? What are you out of your mind? And Jay turned around and said, ‘This ain’t bad, is it?’ So that was the great surrender and you saw me late on that year signing the contract with Def Jam.”
Ever since Chuck D has been grateful to every member of Run-DMC and, in an interview with SPIN magazine, admitted they are his favourite hip-hop group of all time. Furthermore, while speaking with Uncut magazine, the lyricist revealed his favourite Run-DMC tracks. Opening up about his most cherished tracks, Ridenhour stated, “We can talk about anything by Run-DMC: ‘My Adidas’, ‘Peter Piper’ ‘Rock Box’, ‘Sucker MC’s’… but if I had to choose one to be the most influential, it’s ‘Rock Box’. It showed that hip-hop and rock could really work. Run-DMC was a big thing – there was nothing like it.”
He continued, “They were able to take the elements of everything that had gone before, from 1973 to 1983. They were like a synopsis or a culmination of the whole 10 years of hip-hop before that. The unbelievable aspect of Run-DMC is that they compressed a decade into a recording act: two dudes and a DJ. Run-DMC made me seriously know that hip-hop can be as big as Rock’n’Roll.”