PUBLIC ENEMY

INTERVIEW WITH CHUCK D

INTERVIEW BY DAN LEVY

Talk about your trip from the beginning.
It's a musical trip paralleled throughout the building of hip hop. I think we built a cornerstone. I've had some valuable experiences.

Did your family support your music?
Oh yeah. They have always been supportive to take on any endeavor that I wish to do.

Who is a fellow musician you would like to punch in the mouth or kiss on the mouth?
I have always been a big fan of James Brown and as far the other, artists that do it strictly for the money. I just think there is more to it than that.

When did you realize that you were sitting on something revolutionary?
Before the group started.

Were you into music early in life?
I played clarinet in the school band in the fifth grade.

What started you writing rhymes?
The inspirationalists and seeing people who did it right, instead of wrong.

What song had the most impact on you?
'Say it Loud, I am Black and I Am Proud' by James Brown.

The internet?
For me, the internet is the only way and in a way, a saving grace. You get to deal directly with our people. You couldn't do that before unless you really paid. Publicenemy.com, rapstation.com, bringthenoise.com, and atomicpop.com are cornerstones to everything that I do.

Nabster?
I totally agree. File sharing is the way of the future. It is new radio.

Best memory?
Traveling the world and making changes. Things like people coming up to you and saying 'thank you, you raised me.' I don't think too many groups get that.

INTERVIEW WITH PROF GRIFF

What have you been working on?
We're putting together the live PE thing and Chuck and I are on another project called Concentration Camp with a guy we grew up with in Long Island. It's a rock/rap fusion thing.

Did your family support your music?
No, just my mom. Mothers really think 'oh this is a phase, let me get you these two turntables and this thing called a mixer and see what happens'. So, that's what she did.

No one knew it would spark a revolution in music.
To be honest with you, we didn't know. It wasn't a thing where we said 'we know this is going to happen this way, you do what you do'. I never thought in high school, I would be this Professor Griff guy.

What did you think you were going to be?
I always leaned towards law enforcement and that is what I went to the army for. I was an MP.

How did you hook up with Chuck and Flav?
Roosevelt is only like one square mile so you can't miss anyone if you go to any kind of community function. On the music tip, I think Adelphi University is what brought everyone together. You would feel bad if you missed one of those gigs because everyone was there.

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