Chuck D is prepping for a busy summer. Following a Public Enemy performance in Napa Valley and another at Boston Calling at the end of May, Chuck, Flavor Flav, and crew head overseas for a handful of shows in June before joining Guns N’ Roses on their Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things tour. It’s a grueling schedule, with dates peppered all across Europe. They’ll eventually return to the States toward the end of July, landing in Athens, Georgia, on July 22.
For Chuck, this is nothing new. As Public Enemy’s frontman, he’s been trotting around the globe since the 1980s, bringing the group’s politically-charged anthems and militant style of the S1Ws to audiences in every corner of the world. Now 64, Chuck is one of hip-hop’s few sexagenarians still rocking the mic, a topic he addresses on his new compilation project, Radio Armageddon. While the 14-track effort bridges the generational gap—contributions include gangsta rap innovator Schoolly D and Stetsasonic’s Daddy-O alongside up-and-comers like Miranda Writes—Chuck is laser-focused on the lack of respect given to our hip-hop pioneers.
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“The ism of ageism is up there with sexism and racism,” Chuck D tells SPIN by phone. “Ageism is derailing elders.”
Unlike rock ’n roll, where artists like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger are touring into their 80s, hip-hop is still a relatively youth-focused genre, so there aren’t as many older artists blazing the trail. Ice-T, Chuck, Flavor Flav, Kurtis Blow, DJ Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash are among the hip-hop legends in their 60s, and they often have to fight for their rightful place.
“Daddy-O, to me, did the best album of 2024 and nobody covered it,” he points out. “There’s no classification for classic hip-hop. The curation of classic hip-hop has to be at least half of what classic rock has done. I’m traveling with a classic rock act this year in stadiums. Now, classic rock is made up of so many groups out of the ’90s. Green Day is a classic rock group, and they do whatever they want.
“I was with a rock group that was damn near a cover band [Prophets of Rage] that did great tours around the world, although we had original music and played Rage Against the Machine songs, Public Enemy songs, and Cypress Hill songs. When are we going to start seeing hip-hop cover bands? I think we’re right around the corner. It’s about the songs. The songs are the gods. And then the best way to turn on new generations to old songs is performers that have the passion to connect.”
Despite the uphill climb, Chuck is still testing the boundaries of his musical (and lyrical) craft, as evident on Radio Armageddon. From the chaotic, Bomb Squad-flavored lead single, “New Gens” featuring Daddy-O, to the frenzied feeling of “Rogue Runnin” with Phill Most Chill, some people aren’t going to “get it,” and Chuck is at peace with that.
“It’s me doing a new style of being a master of ceremonies,” he says of the project. “You have the hip-hop god Daddy-O on ‘New Gens,’ and he’s more conventional, straight up with the rhyme on the beat. My thing was coming unorthodox from left field, and it’s not meant to be liked. Sometimes we could go on a tangent. I don’t give a fuck about likes, and I don’t give a fuck about approvals on art because I come from an art background. However, when I’m presenting an MC, it’s different. I think MCs like 1/2 Pint and Miranda Writes on ‘Is God She?’ are doing a phenomenal job and should get the look.”
As far as the production, Chuck has entrusted David “C-Doc” Snyder, who he describes as the “Brian Eno of hip-hop,” to weave supercharged sonic threads into his own slightly tattered tapestry of sound. Rough around the edges at times yet interesting enough to warrant a head nod or two, Radio Armageddon primarily relies on Chuck’s authoritative voice to command attention. Nearly 40 years after releasing Public Enemy’s rallying cry, “Fight the Power,” he continues to spotlight important issues.
“Make racists afraid again,” he raps on “Here We Are Heard.” “They wanna build a wall between us and Mexicans/Still on the outside lookin’ in/Based on the skin I’m in,” a somber reminder that the United States hasn’t made much progress in that department.
As Chuck said, not everybody is going to “like” Radio Armageddon, but for those who want an experience that equates to “listening to a radio station dipped in acid with Wu-Tang Clan fighting at the door, trying to get in”—as Chuck puts it—let the record play.
“It’s very hard to introduce a sonic audio revolution in 2025, when everybody’s addicted to their screens,” he says. “People don’t listen with their ears first anymore, they listen with their eyes, but C-Doc has invented the sudden turn production, and he’s learned from the blueprint of the Bomb Squad but has turned it into this drive into a ditch-type style that I don’t think is precedented. He’s running with the words and dancing with the beats.”
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