|
|
 |
As leader and cofounder of the legendary rap group Public Enemy, Chuck D redefined rap music and hip-hop culture with the release of PE's explosive debut album, YO BUM RUSH THE SHOW, in 1987. The group's subsequent seven albums were released over the next 13 years, all meeting with critical acclaim from publications as disparate as TIME and THE SOURCE and garnering worldwide sales in the millions. At the close of 1999, THE NEW YORK TIMES included Public Enemy music on their list of the "25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century," and in 2005, the Library of Congress included FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET in their list of 50 recordings worth preserving in the National Recording Registry.
The band has embarked on more than 33 tours, performing more than 1,200 concerts in 40 countries. Three of their albums are certified multiplatinum; three are gold, with four gold singles and a platinum-selling home video.
Chuck D has hosted his own segment on the Fox News Channel and published a best-selling autobiography, FIGHT THE POWER. He is a sought-after speaker on the college-lecture circuit and a prominent member of the music-industry nonprofit organizations MusicCares and Rock the Vote (which honored him with the Patrick Lippert Award in 1996 for his contributions to community service), and he has started the record label SlamJamz. He served as national spokesperson for Rock the Vote, the National Urban League, and the National Alliance of African American Athletes, and he appeared in public-service announcements for HBO's campaign for national peace and Partnership for a Drug Free America. He is also a regular guest on numerous television shows, including NIGHTLINE and POLITICALLY INCORRECT. In 2004, Chuck D joined the radio network Air America as a cohost of his own show.
He continues to branch out of music. In September 1999, he launched a multiformat "supersite" on the Web, Rapstation.com, and in a landmark move, made Public Enemy the first multi-platinum-selling act to release their album via the Web before it was available in retail stores. Chuck D is currently working on a second book and a new Public Enemy album while running SlamJamz. In addition, he will sit on panels at several conventions and continue to appear as a guest lecturer at colleges across the country.
|
 |
