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Friday
Night Hype I spent about ten minutes thinking I was all that when Chuck D's publicist called me with his contact number. Then … he answered the phone. Suddenly my coolness quotient plummeted. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something about as hip as "Gee whiz, Chuck, I sure do enjoy that rap music you play!" As you might imagine, the famously well-spoken Mr. Chuck D took my blundering, white-bread idiocy in stride.
Even those uninitiated in the world of rap and hip hop know Public Enemy's performace at the McDonald Theatre is a big deal. PE's larger-than-life legacy is built on 20 years of critical acclaim, controversy, legendary performances and now-classic albums like Fear of a Black Planet and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. But words like "seminal" and "ground-breaking" are dime-a-dozen in any description of Public Enemy's hip hop empire. Yes, they're probably the most influential rap group of all time, but rehashing their past minimizes the fact that, unlike other generation-spanning acts, PE doesn't rely on the glory of their early success. Being ridiculously famous is great, but making great music is better. Public Enemy released two original albums in the last year, and Chuck D's online record company, Slam Jamz, is successfully tapping into the world of downloading as the primary forum for musical exchange. At this point, PE can do whatever they want. And what they want is to be on the road. "We don't tour to promote a record," Chuck tells me. "We tour to tour and we release a record to release a record." Their appearance at the McDonald is a stop on the 56th tour made together by original members Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Professor Griff. Public Enemy is best known for scathing social commentary and revolutionary musical style. Their characteristic sound launched a rap revolution, shaping a genre that layered the beats of heavy handed DJs with aggressive yet nuanced lyrical commentary on race, politics, media and urban life. Their live show still showcases some of the music that made them famous ("Fight the Power," "Bring the Noise"), but Chuck D assures audiences they won't be seeing a greatest hits act. "Our show is a combination of The Roots, Rage Against the Machine and Run DMC," he explains. "People try to condense us, knock us down to something they can put in their cell phone, [but] we're the closest thing to a jam band that rap can get. " While undeniably an icon, Chuck D is very much an active artist and producer, aware of and disturbed by modern trends in the rap scene. "Not everything can be a pop song," he muses. "Saying the same thing and being limited on stage just causes diminishing returns on the genre. Cars, girls and love … they're never going to go away. But rap music can mean more than that, more than always talking about going platinum. Dog food goes platinum every two weeks. You don't see the dog food owners going around wearing diamond encrusted dog food pendant around their necks." Public Enemy is touring with X-Clan, another highly influential group famous for forceful political critiques of the country's racialized politics. I asked Chuck D if the messages of PE and X-Clan are still relevant 20 years after their first introduction to the mainstream music scene. "'Fight the Power' can mean a lot of things to a lot of people everywhere," he says. "A black man was shot fifty times in New York last week. That climate is still festering out there. Twenty years is nothing in the span of social time. In music time, one year is a long time, but we're still listening to John Lennon's 'Imagine.' Bob Dylan opened the doors long ago, saying you should try to do more with a song. I always tell people, make a record that will last 20, 30, 50 years." Given Public Enemy's refusal to settle comfortably into has-been status, it's likely Chuck D will be taking his own advice for years to come.
From
Cuba With Love
Almost a year ago I wrote about Jessie Marquez's plans to travel to Latin America to study music. The local singer is back, having spent eight months with her family in Cuba, and she's once again performing with guitarist Mike Denny. On her trip, Marquez performed at Boleros de Oro, a national festival, for the second year in a row. As part of this island-wide festival, Marquez traveled throughout the many provinces, performing with other artists. She also produced a CD by Marilys Gonzalez, whom she met during last year's festival. Marquez had enough time and money to produce one CD and chose Gonzalez over recording her own music. "I think she is the greatest, or one of the greatest, living singers in Cuba today," says Marquez. "She's virtually unknown because she doesn't live in Havana. When I met her it was like meeting an unknown Ella Fitzgerald. She's a master." Gonzalez's CD is "in the demo phase." While in Cuba, Marquez studied at ISA, the national school of arts, and performed at many venues as an invited guest. "It was great," says Marquez, but not being able to legally work meant she couldn't develop her own material. "As a foreigner I was never given a work visa, and things are highly controlled there, even for Cuban artists," she says. "If you don't graduate from music school you're unable to join an artist's union, so you're not officially allowed to work." Marquez's time on the island has pumped up her repertoire with new inspiration found in bossa nova, but not the Brazilian kind. "Bossa nova is played a lot in Cuba, too. I discovered this rich treasure trove of composers that nobody knows about!" says Marquez. "I brought back beautiful music, and we're also doing my own music." JESSIE MARQUEZ AND THE MIKE DENNY QUARTET. 9:30 pm Sat., Dec. 16. Sam Bond's Garage. $5 • 21+ show.
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