[Note: Chuck D wrote this essay as a letter to Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur (AllHipHop.com) and Davey D (DaveyD.com). With permission, the message by the Public Enemy leader, has been edited slightly into a scathing editorial about the media, Hip-Hop and the how the culture has been pimped by a mere few.] Chuck D: I really don’t know what constitutes for “relevant” coverage in  HIP-HOP news in America these days, but I really want to give you all a heads up. As you know I’ve been through three passports, 76 countries on the regular in the name of Hip-Hop since 1987 and in 2010, although I’ve never stopped traveling the earth this year, I’ve seen, heard and felt some new things. As far as RAP and HIP-HOP, it’s like USA Olympic basketball, the world has parity now and have surpassed the USA in ALL of the basic fundamentals of HIP-HOP – TURNTABLISM,  BREAKING,  GRAFFITI, and now EMCEEING with succinct mission , meaning and skill. Skill-wise rappers spitting three languages, have created super rappers to move the crowd with intensity and passion. The “arrogant” American comes in blackface, but if there was a HIP-HOP or Rap Olympics, I really don’t think the United States would get Gold, Silver or Brass or even ass for that sake. Personally, Public Enemy has been setting records in a record book that doesn’t really exist. The 20th year anniversary of FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET has become into a year and a half celebration of eights legs and five continents. All the while, looking at a HIP-HOP Planet across 25 countries while still somewhat supportive of American rap, the rest of the world has surpassed the U.S. in skill, in fundamentals and commitment to their communities. Public Enemy’s mission is to set the path, pave the road for cats to do their thing for a long time as long as they do it right. Because of the lack of support from local radio, television and community in the United States, the ability for “local” acts to thrive in their own radius has killed the ability to connect and grow into a proper development as a performer, entertainer and artist. Rappers trying to get put on to a national contract hustle from a NEW YORK or LOS ANGELES corporation has caused the art-form to atrophy from the bottom, while never getting signed to a top echelon that really doesn’t exist, but to a very few. HIP-HOP NEWS spreads like any other mainstream NEWS in America. The garbage that’s unfit to print has now floated on websites and blogs like sh*t. For example a rapper working in the community gets obscured while if that same rapper robbed a gas station he’d get top coverage and be label a “rapper” while getting his upcoming or current music somewhat put on blast, regardless of its quality which of course is subjective like any other art. RAP sites and blogs are mimicking the New York POST. This is not mere complaint , this is truth and its coming down on Americans like rain without a raincoat with cats screaming how they ain’t wet. This is real. The other night upon finishing groundbreaking concert performances in Johannesburg we followed a special free concert in Soweto. To make a point that our agenda was to “show? and encourage the Hip-Hop community to be comfortable in its mind and skin without chasing valueless Amerikkkan values. Never have so many been pimped by so few. It does the people of the planet little good to hear that an an artist is famous and rich, will wear expensive jewelry straight from the mines, show it off, stay it the hotel, ride in limos, do the VIP with chilled champagne in the clubs, ape and monkey the chicks (meaning not even talking) and keep the dudes away with slave paid bodyguards when real people come close. The mimic of the VIACOM-sanctioned video has run tired, because it shows off, does NOT inspire and it says NOTHING. Here in South Africa PUBLIC ENEMY has done crucial groundbreaking performances. Its the same level of smashing the house that we’ve done this year in Moscow, New York, Paris,  London , Chicago and other places this year. This is not news  We are not trying to prove any point other than to show that a classic work is timeless and doesn’t have a demographic per se. The Rolling Stones and U2 are NOT measured by mere tracks’ they are measured by the all-around event they present. The art of the performance has left Hip-Hop whereas somebody has led artists to do more performing off the stage than on it. The agenda here is to create artist exchange This serves as a call to the infrastructure-less Hip-Hop game in Amerikkka. We know what your hustle is, but what is your work and job here? Faking it until making it runs its course in a recession, which is a depression for Black folks who increasingly are becoming more skill-less as they become jobless. Never have so many been pimped by so few. Since the music has so much power, and image has become everything to the point that it can dictate the direction of a person in their life, it is my mission now to really become a “freedom fighter” and stop this radiation. With Jay-Z and others who, for years would faint their worth, the statement of “with great power comes great responsibility,” is more true. Words are powerful and they can both start wars and bring peace. This cannot be taken lightly. Its important for the words to be body with the community. If not one dime of $250 million doesn’t benefit the people who contribute to it then why does that warrant coverage above the will and effort of many in the music who have done great things. Never have so many been pimped by so few. I turned 50 this year. Everyday I get the question whats up with […]

So I suppose the indignant spirit of Sean Hannity lived on as Tucker Carlson filled in for his absence on Fox News. Either that, or that bowtie has finally cut off too much oxygen circulating in his head. In what could be interpreted as an attempt to aim a thinly veiled insult at President Obama and turn dog- loving constituents against him, Tucker provided his own theory regarding Michael Vick’s redemptive season as the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.  After President Obama called the Philly organization to applaud them for giving Vick a second chance, Tucker lambasted the president’s move and coolly stated that Vick should have been executed for fighting dogs… that said right after mentioning he was a Christian.  Once again I say “thank you” to conservatives for giving Christians such as myself a bad name.  Their intolerance is matched only by their arrogance. Does anyone have a tranquil dart? – ‘cause this guy obviously needs to be sedated.  This felt like a desperation shot, a Hail Mary if you will, of Tucker’s to stay on our collective minds.  And while I realize I ‘m helping keep this man’s relevance alive by perpetuating this story – I feel obliged to respond as well. While I’ve already addressed the double standard issue of Vick’s sentencing in comparison to how Ben Roethlisberger and Brett Favre’s cases have played out in the retooling and reposting of Double Standard Procedures, Mr. Carlson has reawakened the sleeping giant within me.  Sometimes it truly is better to just let sleeping dogs lie.  So the question to pose to Mr. Carlson is this:  if we adopt the same rationale as you and apply it to the same men who treated slaves lower than dogs then freed them to fight and die for the Union, what judgment should be passed for them?  Riddle me that, hypocrite. ~ American Dogfighting Flushed out of Fox’s corner pocket like Russ Parr And rushing like Limbaugh to expose how he’s a despicable dunderhead, Who heard what subpar Tucker Carlson posing as a political pundit said When he publicly declared that the Eagles’ pick 7 should be executed? Who is he to turn kid Vick’s comeback into a low quality promo Like some humpback quasi h###… Have you ever seen this anomaly’s photo?!! – not even Bo knows why he ties bows below that head of nuisance. Besides, doesn’t Tucker seem like the type Who rubs peanut butter and Smucker’s between his thighs Just to let some beagles provide him his own b###### fantasy league?!! For the way he’s made a life with his ducktail as Fox’s head, Someone should make this guy tuck his tail between his postured legs… This dude’s a lamer duck than Donald pegged for a Congress-led sequel to Fantasia’s re-release. I mean, who is he to besmirch Vick’s remarkable offense With such an unpardonable offence? Such harsh comments for a man who paid his debt to society? With such harsh words for pitting men’s best friends, What’s his parsed blurb for Ben and Brett’s sex offence?… How is it less offensive when men’s sex friends get vetted impolitely? Better yet, let’s go one level deeper into the pool. What’s his take on Confederate fetters leveled at a people’s roots? I’ve heard his take on an Eagle’s dues but what about when slaves were treated unrulier than dogs? I know slavery’s in the American Eagle’s past, But since he wants to embarrass an Eagle’s pass… I’m runnin’ interference by comparin’ an evil passed with incongruent laws. Forget a scathing blog! Let’s get some backbreaking flogs! Since he wants to wake the dogs, let’s sic ‘em – get ‘em boys, bark with viciousness! You should’ve left sleeping dogs a lyin’ – Instead, you’ve gone and woke up a sleeping, groggy giant… It’s too late to put it to sleep and euthanize it – the venom in this pen’s a poised barbiturate. You and your conservative friends aren’t elegant – you’re buffoons! It’s time we addressed the elephant in the room. I know you think President Lincoln’s precedent looms with great stature. But what he stood for had Republican ulterior motives. Slaves’ emancipation sanctioned a repugnant pull for clearin’ quotas… As mortgaged freedmen fought for Glory as fully adherent soldiers – free to fight and die for the great hereafter. But what happened to those that survived? What rations were given to the ghosts that returned alive? What were these shells on earth to surmise from the same home where the Braves were razed? What trials for the trails of blood, sweat and tears Could they expect from entrails and guts that were treaded and smeared?… Is this what they were vetted for and cleared – purely bled as purebreds when the stakes were raised? So don’t speak to me about execution, Tucker Carlson. Take a seat – your elocution is tuckered, you charlatan. I’m bringin’ the ruckus like Rucker Park – you’re cousin Carlton on the wall, it’s lights out for you. Rather, I’m puttin’ fresh prints above the rim on a square Who dared to lay up a such a vexing brick on the air… It’s not about disrespecting Vick, it’s your air – which I’m prepared to fix as I knock the gall of your balls right out of you.***Reggie Legend is AllHipHop’s resident poet and cultural critic. More of his work can be found at SteelWatersPoetry.com.

  YES! It is that time once again, where I – illseed – offer up my person of the year. By this time, you have already read the headline and know that that person is none other than Nicki Minaj! (CHEERS!) Yes, Nick Minaj. Ms. Minaj joins the ranks of Rick Ross, MC Hammer, Will Smith, and others as the elite few that I personally bestow as the person of the year. I am sure there are a number of you that want to know why, because a lot of you hate Ms. Minaj. Well, I don’t. That chick bad. Badder than yers. Nicki is the person of the year, because she managed to overcome every obstacle imaginable to rise to the tippy top of the rap game. Now, a decade or more ago this notion would not have been so far-fetched. Hip-Hop has always had an affinity for the underdog, but should Nicki have to get shot nine times for her achievements to be recognized? I think not. A nation of haters can be worse than nine bullets in this climate. Haters couldn’t stop Nicki and she flipped it on the ocean of detractors. There has been a groundswell of rumors surrounding her ascension, but by the time her CD came it, everything had changed. She didn’t rely on sex to sell, despite her highly suggestive name. Sure she oozed sensuality, but her debut Pink Friday didn’t follow Lil Kim no matter how her arch nemesis claims her style was stolen. Nicki was kooky, crazy and creative…just how like like people. Pink Friday was an album that was decidedly geared towards women (and gays), make no mistake about that. And they loved them some Nicki so much they turned the word “stan” into a term of endearment (barbz). So, I and other men were all-but-excluded in the making, marketing and promotion of the album. I get it. We don’t buy albums and Nicki knows her base. Her feature appearances were crazy and her profile went through the stratosphere, into the stars. I still give Nickster this honor, based on her story. That story is of a woman that came into her own, against every odd imaginable to do the unthinkable in an era of Hip-Hop that seem allergic to women. That’s right. Some of you act allergic to the female species! And, while we men were not the targets for the album called Pink Friday, every feature appearance, like “Monster” seemed to out for the guy’s respect…but the album was for the ladies. Fair enough. Hey, as far as I’m concerned she got respect and she got this…Illseed’s Person of the Year.