Six-Time Grammy Award-Nominated DJ, Rapper, and Activist
Chuck D: Biography at a Glance
- Chuck D is a six-time Grammy Award-nominated DJ, rapper, lyricist, and activist who has been speaking truth to power for more than 30 years.
- He is best known as the founder and leader of the iconic rap group Public Enemy, co-founded with Flavor Flav in 1987.
- He wrote lyrics behind anthems such as “Fight The Power,” “By The Time I Get to Arizona,” “Bring The Noise,” and “State of the Union” and established a new voice of Black-centered activism.
- Chuck D is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
- He is the bestselling author of This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History and a preserved member of the Library of Congress.
- He is the first artist in residence for the UCLA Hip Hop Initiative and his music has become core curriculum with university institutions such as Drexel University, Temple University, and Berklee College of Music.
- He and Channel Zero have partnered with BBC and PBS Music on a docuseries Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, which traces hip-hop as a political tool and how the genre became a cultural phenomenon against the backdrop of U.S. history.
Biography
Chuck D is a six-time Grammy Award-nominated legendary DJ, rapper, lyricist, and activist who has been speaking truth to power for more than 30 years. Chuck D is best known as the founder and leader of the iconic rap group Public Enemy, which he co-founded with Flavor Flav in 1987. He wrote lyrics behind anthems such as “Fight The Power,” “By The Time I Get to Arizona,” “Bring The Noise,” and “State of the Union,” as well as pioneered and established a new voice of Black-centered activism.
Chuck D is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, one of XXL’s top 20 MCs of all time, a best-selling author of This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History, and a preserved member of the Library of Congress.
Additionally, his music has become core curriculum with university institutions such as Drexel University, Temple University, and Berklee College of Music. He also leads future musicians with a hands-on approach, as the first artist in residence for the UCLA Hip Hop initiative this Spring which had a waitlist of more than 300 people. He is a notable speaker, having appeared at hundreds of colleges and speaking events in his career.
Chuck’s production company Channel Zero, which he co-founded with his long-time manager and producing partner Lorrie Boula, has produced such podcasts as Songs That Shook The Planet (Audible), which tells the story of legendary tracks and artists spanning across a variety of genres and decades to call out the courageous artists who continue to make a positive change in society; Stay Free: The Story of the Clash (Spotify) an eight-part docuseries tracing the origin, rise and fall of The Clash, narrated by Chuck D; and Shattered: Hope, Heartbreak and The New York Knicks (Apple), which uncovers never-heard-before stories of the New York Knicks.
Chuck D and Channel Zero have partnered with BBC and PBS Music on a docuseries Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, a four-part series tracing hip-hop as a political tool, and how the genre became a cultural phenomenon against the backdrop of U.S. history.
