Public Enemy doesn’t want you to believe the hype. Chuck D says that last month’s odd firing of hype man Flavor Fav was just a hoax.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In an interview with Talib Kweli on the Uproxx podcast People’s Party, the legendary rapper admitted the firing was apart of “April ‘FlavChuck’ Day,” a publicity stunt to promote a new album from a PE side group, “Enemy Radio.” All would’ve been revealed during the group’s Coachella performance, but the festival has since been postponed due to the coronavirus.
”We felt that over the past few years, Flavor’s stock was low,” Chuck said in the interview recorded on March 10. “Anybody that could take a shot at him could get a good shot at him.”
”COVID smashed the date, not the day,” Chuck D wrote on Twitter of the hoax, “On April 1, this is OVER & WE bigger than Coachella.”
The fake feud was supposedly sparked because Flav objected to the band’s performance at a Bernie Sanders political rally without his permission. Chuck D responded by announcing that the band would be “moving forward without Flavor Flav.”
”We already talked about this beforehand. Public Enemy Radio went up [at the Bernie Sanders rally]. His lawyer sent out a cease and desist. I’m like, “Good move.” Then, publicly: “Man, you don’t fuckin’ sue me again.” He ain’t suin’ me. But I can say it! If the public is confused about this, that, whatever—they’re gonna be confused about what’s a lawsuit and what’s not. “Yo, man, you suing me again publicly? Boom. Fuck that. You’re fired, dude. This is my last thing with you.” OK. We knew what was gonna come. I’m not sayin’ it’s a hoax; I’m sayin’ that the original intention is to get your attention and not pay attention, but get you to pay attention,” Chuck D explained.
On the Enemyradio.com website, launched to promote an upcoming album, Chuck D, the leader of the legendary rap group, discussed the stunt further, claiming it was just “crazy sht” to “wake people up.”
“Thus came the HOAX. A wake-up call,” Chuck wrote, explaining that the inspiration came from Orson Welles’ 1938 radio hoax, “War Of The Worlds,” which had “pulled the wool over the public’s eyes as they put 100% belief in the technology of radio.”
Though the group now says the hoax was meant to align with the album release, Chuck made it clear that it was all part of a bigger message about Hip Hop getting a ”bad look.”
”So it’s April 1, 2020, and as we hoard food and empty store shelves, Chuck D and Flavor Flav hijack it as April ‘FlavChuck’ Day to end the HOAX with Enemy Radio’s new song, ‘FOOD AS A MACHINE GUN.’ ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ 2020 style. That’s right, this is Enemy Radio featuring Public Enemy, with more around the corner: Enemy Radio’s debut album, ‘LOUD IS NOT ENOUGH,’ is here.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Chuck also confirmed Flav couldn’t be removed from the group. ”He can’t, he’s a partner. You can’t fire partners. You just walk away from ’em,” he said, adding, “There’s a select few that do know—that I had to let know—that me and Flav have been better than ever.”
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