The two greatest hip-hop performances of all time according to Will Smith
Although Will Smith is primarily renowned for being an actor, many people in hip-hop also know him to be a competent rapper. Although several of his records within the genre were commercial and extremely radio-friendly, he still put out his fair share of music. From ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’ to ‘Summertime’, Smith and his discography undoubtedly have a place in the hip-hop history books.
In September last year, Smith decided to go back to his roots with the launch of his new podcast. Named Class Of ’88, the Philadelphia native now speaks with a range of guests from Public Enemy, Salt-N-Pepa, and Fab Five Freddy, to name a few.
That said, in a sit-down conversation with the former frontman of Public Enemy, Chuck D, the Grammy-Award-winning artist and actor, revealed his two favourite hip-hop performances of all time.
While discussing the best live performers from 1980s rap, Smith told Chuck D (real name Carl Ridenhour), “There’s two hip-hop performances that I talk about from that era that, literally to this day, stand as the two greatest insanities I have ever seen in an audience where the audience was gone!”
Smith then proceeded to name the performances, beginning, “One was Luke and 2 Live the first time I saw them in New Orleans! I had never seen anything like that, and the other was Public Enemy in London.
The Men In Balck actor then vividly detailed the experience and asked Chuck D how he fostered that environment, stating, “It was the maddest, most wild, insanity that I had ever seen. What do you think you were tapping into? What is the thing you were reaching for and touching inside of people that was setting that level of absolute frenzy?!”
Ridenhour responded, “Over there, [I was tapping into] ‘Don’t be afraid to be you’. We knew there was a certain restriction on people really being themselves if they were black or a person of colour. They had to still come in from the generation before and pay homage to the Queen more than looking at their Caribbean or African roots.”
The pair then proceeded to speak about when Chuck D performed in the iconic jail on New York City’s Rikers Island. Revealing Public enemy caused havoc, Ridenhour explained, “I never did another prison after. They put out an APB like, “Don’t let Public Enemy try to be like Johnny Cash, keep these negros away!”
Chuck admitted he enjoyed the day and liked sitting with the prisoners and hearing their stories. You can watch The Class Of ’88 with Chuck D in the video below.