Thug Life Army

Chuck D

Its the systematic one-sidedness of the production companies that are chosen by these big corporate entities. There hasnt been any change in Flavor at all, he's always been the same crazy cat from day one. No offense for his friend Bridgitte but his TV potential has been there long before that pairing. Vh-1 choosing of this show Strangelove, is a smack in the face of all else Flavor has done. The reality dragging of his personal life exes and children is uncalled for. The meshing of his performance life with PE probably doesnt bode well with what the group stands for with its fam and followers. I hear that, but at the same time as adults and gentlemen that we are, respect is gonna be there for ones personal space.

Choices are left up to the individual, and within reason anything said and done at this stage is pended upon this. Its not a boys club. Years ago with the Griff thing there was a whole organizational dynamic that was personal within the group that led to myself making decisions. From that point afterwards I definitely spaced the situation out. But now with this situation i must at least comment because i see some troublezones. I stepped up to look at this as another test on the way things are. More than a few shows with Flavor were proposed with more of a stable upstanding profile, ideas from production companies of color.

Rejected with the premise of alluding that flav didnt have what it took to star a show by his damn self. Typical corp-whiteboy reaction as they actually thought it was Flav AND Bridgette that made that surreal life click. I''m bias but on the real...,Bridgette could''ve been anyone.

Now the trouble on this strangelove show, (which they shoot in a 10-14 day period, only to have myself to answer 6 months later about a re-run to some clueless tv soul about what they thought was current.) is that theres a scene that i saw a short clip of Flav in conflict with 3 of his kids and ex back in the hometown. Lord, i hope not. This has been a topic in barbershops and hair salons across black america, which is twice as sad because that and topics launched by BET,UPN,urban radio are fed to black people. Bread and circus sht that the masses of blackfolk flock to news of that type while world events, politics, and issues of community concern are catagorized as either too deep, boring, or non black if such a stupid thing. A test, as i spent the greater part of last year trying to get Son Of A Bush out of office on national tv and radio while blackfolk asked what i was up to while being pied-pipered into whitemale boarded corporate owned urban media. All that and as expected it was the Surreal Life that got their attention like fruitloops compared to wheaties.

Still it doesn''t bode well if Flav is yelling at his kids and his ex. Already black women are mixed on what they see, next they''ll be pissed off. Also during the recent year-end PE old school show in Chicago during a break Flav made commentary about he and Bridgette and graphically made some inappropriate statements about what they did in bed. It was totally jarring and disrespectful especially to the large majority of black women in the audience that expected a breath of relief from PE after a prior 50 minute b*tchbarrage from Too Short.

Now heres the clicker, there were black women who had came there in some cases with their sons, some single mothers who paved thru the struggle of raising them. Peeps will let the Bridgette thing perhaps slide, but not the wild statements and what seems like a disrespect conflict on camera with his children and their mother. Last week it was that same part of his family who went on Wendy Williams program and launched the worst on air diatribe ever directed at a father by his children.

It is here i have to intervene and say and do something about this. I have spent many years maintaining the integrity and demanding the respect for our people. This to me has and will never be measured by mere record sales or concert gates. In my prior conversation about this with Flav he's still enamored with platinum sales and packed stadiums, and thinks that his tv profile will ''bring PE back'' to that material status. I remind him that traveling to 53 countries whenever he wants to play music, and being ''free'' to make and produce recordings that are heard with respect across the world transend that simple commercial status. In his own words being blind to the fact, has crippled his understanding of whats at stake. We have never fallen off, ..you cannot fall off of a capsizing society. A lotta cats benefit off flowing with the avalanche , so it appears they are in the mainstream of a river heading south. Its the perfect storm, and like a captain i''ve been taught to hold the course.

This is where a short term sugar high causes long term cancer. PE was nearly derailed by a jewish incident in 1989, and the media blew it up as being wrong without tallying black people. Now in this Strangelove case the rewards are derogatorily swung as bait while never coming close to the measuring of the feeling of black people and other minority. It seems the powers that be and in this case specifically television,the film industry,radio, the print industry and the humans that hover over the buttons of control have isolated the dna of racism, wove it into the amerkkkan drug of celebrity to wind up exploiting our characteristic instead of our character.

These pied pipers have used high science with low tools and it's a trip for the people who''ve been led into the river. I know for pure fact theres more black women in america than jews, christian right and quiet as kept some are one in the same,so this should be revered and respected equally. I cannot tell Flavor, a grown man what to do in this case other than to warn him to guard himself against the long term effects that may be on the horizon ....

This is an excerpt of Chuck D’s  most recent ‘Terrordome’ that can be found on the Public Enemy web site  HERE

Please check it out as Chuck D always has a great article there and lots of PE news. It is more than rap and hip-hop, it is a social wake up call; as Chuck D always can enlighten you thought process. In the rest of this months Terrordome Chuck D talks about upcoming shows and a lot more info for all PE fans.