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CHUCK D

Artist profile

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour a.k.a. Chuck D

Born August 1, 1960 in Long Island, New York, U.S.

“Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps”

As the founder of Public Enemy, Chuck D. is one of the most colossal figures in the history of Hip Hop, not to mention its most respected intellectual. He redefined Hip Hop as music with a message, and his strident radicalism ushered in an era when rap was closely scrutinized for its content; although rap’s primary concerns have changed over the years, its status as America’s most controversial art form has only gotten stronger since Public Enemy hit the scene. Chuck D. was born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour in Roosevelt, Long Island, on August 1, 1960. His parents were both political activists, and he was a highly intelligent student, turning down an architecture scholarship to study graphic design at Long Island’s Adelphi University. While in school, he put his talents to use making promotional flyers for Hip Hop events, and went on to co-host a Hip Hop mix show on the campus radio station with two future Public Enemy cohorts, Bill Stephney and Hank Shocklee. Under the name Chuckie D, he rapped on Shocklee’s demo recording, “Public Enemy No. 1,” which caught the interest of Rick Rubin at Def Jam. In response, the now simply named Chuck D. assembled Public Enemy, a group designed to support the force of his rhetoric with noisy, nearly avant-garde soundscapes.

Chuck D 1987. Photo by Janette Beckman

Chuck D 1987. Photo by Janette Beckman

Public Enemy debuted in 1987 with Yo! Bum Rush the Show, a dry run for one of the greatest three-album spans in Hip Hop history. Released in 1988, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was acclaimed by many critics as the greatest Hip Hop album of all time, and was instrumental in breaking rap music to white, alternative rock audiences. Fear of a Black Planet (1990) and its follow-up, Apocalypse ’91…The Enemy Strikes Black, consolidated Public Enemy’s position as the most important rap group of its time. There were storms of controversy along the way, most notably Chuck D.’s endorsement of the polarizing Muslim minister Louis Farrakhan, and group member Professor Griff’s highly publicized anti-Semitic slurs. But on the whole, Public Enemy’s groundbreaking body of work established Chuck D. as one of the most intelligent, articulate spokesmen for the black community. He became an in-demand speaker on the college lecture circuit (much like his peer KRS-One), and was frequently invited to provide commentary on TV news programs.

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess AgeMuse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (1994) found the group’s status slipping, and the following year Chuck put PE on hiatus while planning its next move. In the meantime, he released his first solo album, The Autobiography of Mistachuck, in 1996, and published the book version of his autobiography the following year. He reconvened Public Enemy for the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1998 film, He Got Game, and the following year left Def Jam over the label’s refusal to allow him to distribute Public Enemy music via free Internet downloads. Signing with the web-based Atomic Pop label, Chuck became an outspoken advocate of MP3 technology and made 1999’s There’s a Poison Goin’ On… the first full-length album by a major artist to be made available over the Internet (it was later released on CD as well).

He continued his lecturing into the new millennium and made regular appearances on the Fox News Channel as a commentator. Even if Public Enemy never recaptures the popularity or vitality of its glory years, Chuck D.’s legacy is secure enough to keep him a respected voice on the American cultural landscape. (Artist Biography by Steve Huey | Allmusic.com)

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Official site:  Public Enemy | Twitter:  @MrChuckD

Source: allmusic.com

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Discography

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Movies

Hustlers Convention

Hustlers Convention

The story of Sport and Spoon - two young hustlers who attend the eponymous convention, only to get tangled up in a financial disagreement th...

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Godfathers and Sons

Godfathers and Sons

Director Marc Levin travels to Chicago with hip-hop legend Chuck D (from Public Enemy) and Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess and heir to ...

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The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World

The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World

"The Team that Changed the World," investigates the Globetrotters' impact socially and culturally, as well as their lasting effect on the NB...

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Straight Outta L.A.

Straight Outta L.A.

In 1982, the Raiders and owner Al Davis captivated black and Latino fans with swagger and charisma that matched the rapidly changing city....

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System Shock

System Shock

Germany 1995, a PhD student makes a technological breakthrough when he discovers how to compress audio without losing sound quality. He call...

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Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live!

Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live!

THE BLACK PANTHERS OF RAPP-CHUCK D, FLAVOR FLAY, TERMINATOR X, PROFESSOR GRIFF, AND THE S1W'S BRING THE NOISE HOME TO NASSAU COLISEUM, STRON...

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Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

As reports of fatal police violence continue to flood the headlines, this film shines a light on not only the circumstances of these cases b...

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Public Enemy Live at the Metro Theatre

Public Enemy Live at the Metro Theatre

...

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Rebels Without a Pause: The Induction Celebration of Public Enemy

Rebels Without a Pause: The Induction Celebration of Public Enemy

The hard-earned honor of Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction culminated at the end of several days of celebration in April. On the eve of the...

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Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History

Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History

Narrated by Chuck D, Freestyle 101: Hip-Hop History explores the genre's early days through the lens of freestyle rap, featuring legendary a...

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Mixtape, Inc.

Mixtape, Inc.

Featuring Kanye West, Chuck D., Gnarls Barkley and many other red-hot hip-hoppers, director Walter Bell's documentary takes you behind the s...

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The Doctor

The Doctor

An NBA original documentary following Julius Erving throughout his ABA and NBA career, as well as his (sometimes heartbreaking) personal lif...

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Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation - The First London Invasion Tour 1987

Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation - The First London Invasion Tour 1987

Recorded Live on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1987 from Hammersmith Odeon London, as part of the European Def Jam Tour. With additional footag...

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Public Enemy - Live From  Metropolis Studios

Public Enemy - Live From Metropolis Studios

On August 6, 2014, Hip-Hop legends Public Enemy performed at London's world-renowned Metropolis Studios in the most intimate gig of their ca...

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Hard 'N Heavy Volume 16

Hard 'N Heavy Volume 16

Video magazine with interviews and video clips. Featured on this volume is: Skid Row, Nirvana, Public Enemy, Tin Machine, Thin Lizzy, Alice...

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Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied

Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied

Filmmaker Robert Gordon captures the life of fascinating blues artist Muddy Waters. Credited with inventing the electric blues, Waters left ...

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The Untold Story of Detroit Hip Hop

The Untold Story of Detroit Hip Hop

"The Untold Story of Hip-Hop" Narrated by Chuck D. Tells the colorful true stories of the people, places and sounds behind the mainstream na...

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Movin' on Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions

Movin' on Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions

Movin' On Up is the definitve documentary on one of the most important artists and greatest groups of all time....

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Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking

Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking

A look at the extraordinary achievements and contemporary legacy of Oscar Micheaux, a pioneer of the African-American film industry....

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Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn feat. Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn feat. Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane

“Burn Hollywood Burn” was released as a single for PE’s third album, Fear of a Black Planet. The song is a scathing examination of ste...

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Full Court: The Spencer Haywood Story

Full Court: The Spencer Haywood Story

Narrated by Public Enemy's Chuck D, the documentary traverses Haywood's life from his humble beginnings in Mississippi raised by a single mo...

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Rap: Looking for the Perfect Beat

Rap: Looking for the Perfect Beat

Rap music has articulated a black aesthetic that is influencing pop culture around the world. But does it also promote violence, misogyny, a...

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System Shock: How the MP3 Changed Music

System Shock: How the MP3 Changed Music

This is the story of the MP3, an audio breakthrough that brought a billion dollar industry to the brink of collapse, but also paved the way ...

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Copyright Criminals

Copyright Criminals

Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, ...

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Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop and the Crack Generation

Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop and the Crack Generation

A look at the rise of crack cocaine in urban America in the 1980s and it's influence on popular culture, especially in hip-hop music....

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Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

James Brown changed the face of American music forever. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, James Brown was a self-made man who becam...

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Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential musicians and poets of the last 50 years. In Don Letts's documentary, Gil tells his own stor...

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Rock Rubber 45s

Rock Rubber 45s

A cinematic odyssey exploring the connectivity of global basketball, sneaker, and music lifestyle through the firsthand lens of authentic NY...

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Heights Girl

Heights Girl

A preacher's daughter from the middle class suburb of Cleveland Heights deals with love and drama as she dates a bad boy from the rough side...

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The Fab Five

The Fab Five

Depicts the story of Jalen Rose and his other Fab Five teammates, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Called by some “...

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Big Pun: The Legacy

Big Pun: The Legacy

His rhymes caught the attention of millions. His flow is un-matched by any. His story is captivating and triumphant. "Big Pun: The Legacy" c...

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The Weird World of Blowfly

The Weird World of Blowfly

Clarence Reid is a musician who wrote and produced romantic and spiritual songs for some of the greatest Southern soul and R&B acts of the 1...

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An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

Filmmaker Alan Smithee finds himself the unwilling puppet of a potentially bad big budget action film, for which he proceeds to steal the re...

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Lightning in a Bottle

Lightning in a Bottle

On February 7th, 2003, renowned artists across multiple music genres and generations commandeered the stage at New York City's Radio City Mu...

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Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare

Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare

The history of warfare as it relates to global Black society, broken down into 7 chapters that examines the ways the system of racism wages ...

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The Black Candle

The Black Candle

The origins of Kwanzaa and the seven principles upon which the pan-African holiday derives its meaning are explored in this fascinating docu...

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Be Inspired: The Life of Heavy D

Be Inspired: The Life of Heavy D

He was known as The Overweight Lover, The Heavster, and Most Affectionately, Heavy D. Penned as one of the most likable people in Hip-Hop, h...

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Prince: A Purple Reign

Prince: A Purple Reign

Part of BBC Four's Black Music Legends of the 1980s, this documentary explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionized the per...

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Impact Video Magazine

Impact Video Magazine

Counter-culture video magazine created by Stuart Shapiro, featuring Bill Hicks, Robert Williams, Public Enemy, Butthole Surfers, Survival Re...

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Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote 

Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote 

Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote is an emotionally charged urban drama about a good girl whose best friend is murdered just before graduation. She ...

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The King

The King

A cultural portrait of the American dream at a critical time in the nation’s history. Set against the 2016 American election, The King tak...

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Left of the Dial

Left of the Dial

A documentary look at the troubled first year of liberal talk radio start up Air America and its slate of hosts, including Al Franken, Rache...

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And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop

And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop

The film documents the development of hip hop culture since its inception in the 1970s. With interviews from various figures in the communit...

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Grass Is Greener

Grass Is Greener

Weed. Marijuana. Grass. Pot. Whatever you prefer to call it, America’s relationship with cannabis is a complicated one. In his directorial...

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It's Yours: A Film on Hip-Hop and the Internet

It's Yours: A Film on Hip-Hop and the Internet

By the dawn of the 21st century, hip-hop sales had reached an all-time high, but one thing has remained the same. The doors were still locke...

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Goo

Goo

For their sixth studio album, Sonic Youth created this film to showcase every song on their album Goo, the ground-breaking, genre-defining, ...

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Fuck

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use....

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Anthrax: 40th Anniversary Livestream

Anthrax: 40th Anniversary Livestream

"It's 40 years of thrash and counting, but not before a very special anniversary is marked for Anthrax. The band, who have been counting dow...

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Slammin' Rap Video Magazine Vol. 1

Slammin' Rap Video Magazine Vol. 1

SLAMMIN!... Rap's #1 video magazine. Here are the acts you're going to be meetin' in the premiere episode of this 1990 Video VHS Magazine pr...

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Cover Your Ears

Cover Your Ears

When does art become obscenity? Cover Your Ears takes a close look at this question through the lens of the past 100 years of music and the ...

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All Things Must Pass

All Things Must Pass

Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents. From humbl...

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Mr. Nelson on the North Side

Mr. Nelson on the North Side

Music icons including Chuck D, Orianthi, and Chaka Khan recount never-before-told stories of Prince the performer and Prince the man, and ho...

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The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique

The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique

Immortal Technique emerged from prison a changed man. As his inner journey continues he travels the world promoting a revolution of consciou...

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Sign the Show

Sign the Show

Sign The Show: Deaf Culture, Access and Entertainment is a feature-length documentary providing insight into Deaf culture and the quest for ...

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Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later

Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later

In this documentary directed by Spike Lee, he interviews the cast and crew of his 1989 film DO THE RIGHT THING. It also includes footage fro...

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American Rapstar

American Rapstar

A new scene of troubled, lo-fi young rappers have emerged from Trump’s America, utilizing the SoundCloud streaming platform to quickly bec...

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Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

While Ron Burgundy's rivalry with Veronica Corningstone escalates quickly, a group of unprofessional thieves better known as 'The Alarm Cloc...

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Anthem

Anthem

When twenty-six-year-olds Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn quit their Hollywood jobs, packed up a borrowed car and hit the road, it was with t...

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All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State

All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State

All About Ann celebrates the achievements of larger-than-life Ann Richards, who became the first elected female governor of Texas. Her cool ...

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G-Funk

G-Funk

G-Funk is the untold story of three childhood friends from East Long Beach who helped commercialize hip hop by developing a sophisticated an...

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Rock the Bells

Rock the Bells

An inside look at what it took to bring the Wu-Tang Clan together for their final performance at the Rock the Bells Hip-Hop festival....

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Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP is a feature length performance documentary about the runaway juggernaut that is Rap music. At the wh...

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Nothing Compares

Nothing Compares

Since the beginning of her career, Sinéad O’Connor has used her powerful voice to challenge the narratives she was surrounded by while gr...

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Survivor's Guide to Prison

Survivor's Guide to Prison

Today, you're more likely to go to prison in the United States than anywhere else in the world. So in the unfortunate case it should happen ...

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My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women and Hip Hop

My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women and Hip Hop

Ava DuVernay focuses on the history of female MCs in the hip hop industry in this short documentary that features Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa...

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For NYC

For NYC

Noel Ashman and Damon Dash direct a collection of favorite quotes from high profile artists, recorded on their smart phones, in their homes ...

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Beef

Beef

A documentary on the evolution of MC battles from verbal one-upmanship to street warfare....

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Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage

Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage

Explore Woodstock 99, a three-day music festival promoted to echo unity and counterculture idealism of the original 1969 concert but instead...

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Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert

Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert

The Coachella concert series is examined through the lens of rare footage, interviews, and performances from some of the most famous perform...

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Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’

Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’

A provocative look into the seven-year history of the series that gave hip hop a voice and broke color barriers, integrating MTV with rap. "...

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2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

The 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony take place on Saturday, November 5, 2022 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Ca...

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A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop

A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop

A once-in-a-lifetime live concert special celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Airing Sunday, Dec. 10, at at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT ...

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The History of Rock 'n' Roll

The History of Rock 'n' Roll

The history of rock n' roll and pop music are explored are explored via interviews and footage of well-known music stars....

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Founding Fathers (The True Origins of Hip Hop)

Founding Fathers (The True Origins of Hip Hop)

"Founding Fathers" is an illuminating documentary that unveils the untold stories of overlooked street DJs from diverse boroughs of 1970s Ne...

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Hustlers Convention

Hustlers Convention

The story of Sport and Spoon - two young hustlers who attend the eponymous convention, only to get tangled up in a financial disagreement th...

More info

Rebels Without a Pause: The Induction Celebration of Public Enemy

Rebels Without a Pause: The Induction Celebration of Public Enemy

The hard-earned honor of Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction culminated at the end of several days of celebration in April. On the eve of the...

More info

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

Filmmaker Alan Smithee finds himself the unwilling puppet of a potentially bad big budget action film, for which he proceeds to steal the re...

More info

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn feat. Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn feat. Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane

“Burn Hollywood Burn” was released as a single for PE’s third album, Fear of a Black Planet. The song is a scathing examination of ste...

More info

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