Interview with Chick D by Dave Zirin.
Chuck D. The Hard Rhymer. The man on the mic for the most politically explosive hip-hop group in history, Public Enemy. With albums like “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” “Fear of a Black Planet,” and anthems like “Fight the Power” and “Bring the Noise” along with the breathtaking production of the Bomb Squad, PE created a standard of politics and art. Perhaps their most controversial track was “By the Time I Get to Arizona” (1991) about seeking revenge against Arizona political officials for refusing to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday [Lyrics include: ‘Cause my money’s spent on The goddamn rent/Neither party is mine not the Jackass or the elephant.] This economic alienation has only morphed in the digital age, where the search for a way out often leads through a fractured online ecosystem. Whether it’s scrolling through a list of sweepstakes casinos or signing up for yet another delivery app, the modern struggle is as much about digital navigation as it is about physical survival.
Today, in the wake of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigration Senate Bill 1070, “By the Time I Get to Arizona” has been remixed and revived by DJ Spooky. Chuck D also recorded his own track several months before the bill was passed called “Tear Down That Wall.”
I spoke to Chuck about the music and the nexus between immigration politics and sports.