Welcome to April Fools’ day. If you remember, Chuck D and Flavor Flav of the iconic rap group Public Enemy were beefing in March over performing at a Bernie Sanders rally in L.A.
Not it turns out, it was just a hoax to promote new music. The original gripe stemmed from Flavor’s reps issuing a cease and desist letter to Bernie Sanders’ campaign following news that Chuck would perform at his rally.
“While Chuck is certainly free to express his political views as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy,” Flavor Flav’s lawyer Matthew H. Friedman in the letter back in February. “Sanders claims to represent everyman not the man yet his grossly irresponsible handling of Chuck’s endorsement threatens to divide Public Enemy and, in so doing, forever silence one of our nation’s loudest and most enduring voices for social change,” the letter continued.
So I don’t attack FLAV on what he don’t know. I gotta leave him at the crib so y’all trying to fill his persona with some political aplomb is absolutely‘stupid’ Obviously I understand his craziness after all this damn time. Duh you don’t know him from a box of cigars or me either
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 1, 2020
.@MrChuckD are you kidding me right now???,,,over Bernie Sanders??? You wanna destroy something we've built over 35 years OVER POLITICS???,,,all because I don't wanna endorse a candidate,,,I'm very disappointed in you and your decisions right now Chuck,,,
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) March 2, 2020
And .@MrChuckD,,,i didn't sue you on Friday,,,i asked the @berniesanders campaign to correct misleading marketing,,,that's all it was,,,I'm not your employee,,,i'm your partner,,,you can't fire me,,,there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav,,,so let's get it right Chuck,,,
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) March 2, 2020
“Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav,” the group said in March while announcing the breakup following a Twitter back and forth between the two. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.” Chuck D has now revealed that it was not real.
“So it’s April 1, 2020 and as we hoard food and empty store shelves, Chuck D and Flavor Flav hijack it as April ‘FlavChuck’ Day to end the HOAX with Enemy Radio’s new song, ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN.’ ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ 2020 style. That’s right, this is Enemy Radio featuring Public Enemy, with more around the corner: Enemy Radio’s debut album, ‘LOUD IS NOT ENOUGH,’ is here. ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN’ is the first taste, an attack on the food industrial machine that opens minds to the direct need, dependency and necessity – yet killer – of our current lives, taking inspiration from Kristin Lawless and her book, ‘Formerly Known As Food’,” the statement made today says.
According to Chuck, the action was done to promote new music from Enemy Radio which is made of the DJ+MC auxiliary unit of Public Enemy: Chuck D, DJ Lord, Jahi and the S1Ws. You can listen to the first single ‘Food As A Machine Gun’ off their debut album Loud Is Not Enough, below.
Full statement:
The HOAX was a hoax for a reason….
I was tired of bulsht.
Tired of Hip Hop always getting a bad look as its only narrative while the good news never made the news.
And SOC MED (aka social media transformation of ‘The Masses into Them Asses’ with sucking gadgets and by inhaling digital gasses) had me SMDH coming into 2020.
Thus came the HOAX. A wake-up call.
I had watched Orson Welles’ ‘War Of The Worlds’ from 1938 when he pulled the wool over the public’s eyes as they put 100% belief in the technology of radio. Most people followed like a Pavlovic dog just like they do now.
Flav doesn’t do benefits and stays away from political events – we been cool and always agreed about that. Enemy Radio was built for that reason, to be a DJ+MC auxiliary unit of Public Enemy, a no-slack homage tossback to DJ+MC roots. It is DJ Lord, myself and Jahi with the S1Ws.
Hearing the confused mush of political talk while under the bowels of Trumpotus made me use a presidential stage as my platform. Out of this storm came a plan between Flav and me to remind people that what’s important should have as much, if not more, value than just what’s popular. Thus came the HOAX, our ‘War Of The Worlds.’ Believe half of what you hear and NONE of what you see.
So it’s April 1, 2020 and as we hoard food and empty store shelves, Chuck D and Flavor Flav hijack it as April ‘FlavChuck’ Day to end the HOAX with Enemy Radio’s new song, ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN.’ ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ 2020 style. That’s right, this is Enemy Radio featuring Public Enemy, with more around the corner: Enemy Radio’s debut album, ‘LOUD IS NOT ENOUGH,’ is here. ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN’ is the first taste, an attack on the food industrial machine that opens minds to the direct need, dependency and necessity – yet killer – of our current lives, taking inspiration from Kristin Lawless and her book, ‘Formerly Known As Food.’
Does it take doing crazy sht or catastrophe to wake people up? Obviously so, even when paying attention is the cheapest price to pay. So if you got that in your wallet, Enemy Radio is serving up ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN.’
Chuck D
