Flava Flav is one of the most notorious rappers of all time, especially with regard to his look. As a former member of the legendary Public Enemy, Flav (real name William Drayton) was known for eccentric vocals, quirky clock chains and even went on to have his own reality TV show ‘Flavour Of Love’.
As a member of one of the biggest groups in New York during the 1980s, Flava Flav toured the world with his crew mates, including the likes of Chuck D and DJ Terminator X. Not a one-trick pony, aside from being an MC, he was a songwriter, DJ and music producer, giving the artist the keys to the city as the most versatile rapper around. However, over the years, Flava Flav, the artist, became more of a parody than a rapper and so was disowned by the hip hop community. In 2020 Public Enemy announced that Flava Flav had been fired from the group. However, it was later revealed to be a joke.
As one of the first crews from New York to politicise their music, Public Enemy are still considered legendary. Their political messages addressed a wide range of issues from American racism to the media, so Flava Flav, as a co-founder of Public Enemy is definitely part of hip hop history. However, that’s not to say that their political nature didn’t land them in hot water from time to time.
In a 1989 interview with The Washington Times, the group were asked about their political stance on the Palestine conflict, however, not staying neutral, Professor Griff boldly declared commented that “Jews are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world”. After this, an anti-semitism media firestorm erupted and Public Enemy were unde the cosh. However, even this could not erase their legacy.
Having had such an impact on hip hop culture, with their outspoken, political antics drawing people in, Public Enemy are legendary with 15 studio albums under their belt with all of their early material certified platinum, not forgetting Flava Flav, now it is time to find out which artists are on his list. In a recent interview, Flava Flav decided to finally name his top MCs of all time.
Flava Flav’s favourite rappers of all time:
- Jay-Z
- Eminem
- 2pac
- The Notorious B.I.G
- Chuck D
