- Music
- 14 Sep 11
Public Enemy's Chuck D described West and Jay Z as hip hop's answer to Elton John and David Bowie as well as giving his take on the death of the album during a packed interview in the Hot Press Chatroom at Electric Picnic.
The rapper also hit out at the message given out in the hip hop duo's single 'Otis' which samples Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness'.
"I think those guys are the best in hip hop," explained Chuck D. "But I think people are the most important thing in music. So you can't show off to people what you have. I think it's a bad policy especially in these times. You can't just say "OK, you made me big so therefore I'm going to spend the rest of my time showing off how big I am"."
"Right now the United States is going through a recession headed into a depression and with black folks it's a desperation. So I say you guys got to represent and try a little tenderness with the fanbase out there. You're the now people so represent where people are at. How many people can relate to owning jet planes? ," he continued, before describing Kanye West as hip hop's Elton John and Jay Z as its David Bowie.
Chuck D also shared his thoughts on the fall from grace of the album format but also promised that Public Enemy would release a new LP.
"Technology has all but obliterated the concept of albums as they were in the '60s," he declared. "So I love doing one song at a time. We will release an album because we have people who expect that type of pattern. But right now the beautiful thing about the Internet, not just in distribution and release but also in creation, is that I could go cut a song on the bus, put a nice little cover on it and release it online. You can't beat its immediacy."
You can check out the whole interview on hotpress.com