As the free-spoken pioneer behind Public Enemy, Chuck D has carried the torch for the best part of four decades. He has seen leaders come and go, revolutions rise and fall. To mark a political moment unlike any other, the hip hop legend shares what he’s picked up during his time on the frontlines, explaining why, at 60 years old, he believes it’s time for a new generation to set the pace.
Photography: Eitan Miskevich
Learn to listen
“An attribute that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I listen more than I talk. And I like to listen more than I talk. If I’m asked to talk, then I’m gonna talk. But I like to be quiet. People might say, ‘Well, I didn’t get that from Chuck’ – because whenever I’m in a public space, I’m being asked a question, so therefore I’m trying to answer it. But the inspiration, for me, always comes from hundreds and thousands of conversations I have. I always had a mantra of never repeating myself twice. I learned that you’re an owner to what you think, and a slave to what you say.”
Recognise the threat
“This is the most urgent political moment I’ve ever lived in, and that covers 60 years. It is unprecedented. It’s only unprecedented because there’s lunacy at the top of governments. It’s sheer lunacy. In the United States, right now, it’s boiled down to a point, a very simplistic ‘this’ or ‘that’ scenario. It’s the side you’re on versus the side that hates you. The side that hates you is fully represented in the fact that they say Black lives – or lives – don’t matter. That’s spreading hatred.”
Embrace the moment
“One thing I loved about the Black Lives Matter protests is that younger adults weren’t having themselves reduced to youth. Because what is youth? They took the mantle upon themselves to storm the bastille in their locale by saying, ‘Listen man,
