Chuck D flips 'Otis'

[Big Ben]

With everyone else jumping on the Jay-Z/Kanye Otis track, Chuck D got his own Otis Redding sample and questioned the direction of the Otis track. I respect everyone's opinions on here and was just wondering what everyone thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=161ZRrJZESA

[Silver Tiger]

I like that he shed light on the facts. The artists who made "oldies" didn't exist just to be sampled.

[Turntable]

He doesn't seem to get it right on that beat, so I turned it off after a short while. So what is he saying? We arent allowed to sample now or what?

[Silver Tiger]

No, it's more about the context of the sampling. He's saying that Jay and Kanye's song is flashy and Otis wasn't about that.

[Turntable]

..... And that is so terrible, because?

[Hero1]

Listen to the words that he speaks turntable.. why is jay-z & kanye talking about swag when people are depressed in a depression.. when real life ish is going on right now.. Chuck D who stood for something..public enemy was monumental.. is asking two people with a lot of power in hip-hop to drop a little knowledge on their audience & respect the past greats..Otis had soul..something that meant something.. kanye may have swag..but that's just fairy floss as far as i'm concerned

[Turntable]

So because we are in a depression (which is not true by the way, we are in a recession) people aren't allowed to make any music like that anymore? I hope for sure then Will wont drop another Album right now, because there is bound to be a track like Switch on there. Come on, this is bullish. Hundreds of songs have been sample and used for very difrent songs, there is nothing wrong with that and there is also NOTHING wrong with making "a song about swag" in a time of recession. I dont wanna sit around all day getting reminded that life sucks. Jay-Z gives away a hell lot of money for people in need, so dos Kanye. Maybe Chuck D should find something better to talk about.. We are in a recession, so we dont give a ish about what Chuck D thinks about Jiggas new song.

It al boils down to this: People are gonna buy this album, which means people, who are going through the recession, want to hear this album. Case closed.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Turntable

[Big Ben]

But Chuck isn't telling them not to sample, it's not even about this particular sample, he's just asking them to uplift the masses.
This is a direct quote from Chuck D which is right under the video on youtube:
"This is a polite respect call to the troops , to continue to inspire but reflect the people better. OTIS Redding was a humble country man from Macon Georgia who bought a jet to work in, not flash. He perished in that plane. Heres to hoping that the J & K supergroup can elevate the masses and try a little bit more to reflect OTIS heart rather than swag, because they're too good to be less."

[Hero1]

But Chuck isn't telling them not to sample, it's not even about this particular sample, he's just asking them to uplift the masses.

This is a direct quote from Chuck D which is right under the video on youtube:

"This is a polite respect call to the troops , to continue to inspire but reflect the people better. OTIS Redding was a humble country man from Macon Georgia who bought a jet to work in, not flash. He perished in that plane. Heres to hoping that the J & K supergroup can elevate the masses and try a little bit more to reflect OTIS heart rather than swag, because they're too good to be less."

Yeah that says it all really. Jay & Kanye can do what they want..but Chuck D has every right to call them out on it..

[bigted]

Chuck D is the most powerful voice in hip hop and I'm feeling what he's saying here, Jay-Z and Kanye may be popular but you just can't believe the hype

[JumpinJack AJ]

It has never settled with me well when someone takes a sample and uses their own talent, lyrics, or subject matter (or lack of it) and tarnishes it due to their musical lackings. This never really happened in the old school. Most popular artists these days are lyrically ignorant or boring, the subject matter is trashy or non-existent, their so-called talent is questionable....and that put their nonsense on top of a classic, credible piece of music. Chuck D is saying something that should have been said a long time ago.

[VIsqo]

There you go people!

[bigted]

It's amazing that Chuck D's 51 years old now but he's still got the energy and hunger that a 21 year old just getting a record deal should have:
http://www.publicenemy.com/index.php?page=page3

NOTICE; Chuck D Interview With Tim Einenkel of www.HipHopGods.com and www.RAPstation.com

August 01, 2011
TIM EINENKEL: Let’s get right into it. Your latest single/video “NOTICE Know This"…what was the inspiration behind it? Much of the sampling you’ve used throughout your career has been to pay homage to the artists/people who’ve paved the way for you rather than sampling for the sake of sampling. On “NOTICE Know This,” did you choose to sample Otis Redding in response to Kanye and Jay-Z’s “Otis”, where they appear to sample in order just to make a hot beat?

CHUCK D: A few things inspired me here Tim. First, my (and also Professor Griff's) 51st birthday.

Second, I was inspired by the possible combo of Jay-Z and Kanye West and their use of Otis Redding was great work musically to me and the idea caught my fancy although I was taken a bit aback and thought that the song lyrics didn’t really match the heart of Otis on Try a Little Tenderness.

The advantage is that WARNER owns the masters to that STAX/VOLT material from 1961-1968, so you have businessmen that will easily clear access to who they do business with. The average artist will never be able to afford to rhyme on it and it seems uncanny that a handful of lawyers, accountants, and elite execs have control over those classics. We come from the art of mastering samples, and pause tapes…it's so easy to rock one better than the other, so we really can't take credit for what these legends produced, can we?

But Jay-Z and Kanye are giants and kings of this thing called RAP and I'm betting that they lead rather than follow, because out-swagging is for kids in the 8th grade…especially in these times. Those guys are a combined 70 plus years and that equals enough wisdom for real people to follow instead of old trickle down tricks...

Third, all of this in the shadow of hip hop media ringing the false alarm on Souljah Boy purchasing a $55 million jet....?? Such a stupid put out there rumor in this light. It was no knock on Souljah Boy because that's his fantasy thing....but I attack the laziness of music gossip laden, blogged down, hip hop media where a rumor gets the front page and the truth barely gets a visit.

Lastly, this truth was inspired by our 77th tour and visits to Brazil and Chile where the Hip Hop Nations are laden in revolutionary spirit and change. I came back to America and felt addressing this ni-gravity was necessary.

TIM EINENKEL: What’s the secret?

CHUCK D: The secret is simply traveling the planet for 25 years to 77 countries. For this we have always been able to march to the beat of our own funky drummer so to speak and not be a victim of mere American regional, short minded, mainstreamed opinion, which comes and goes. Our model is consistency in an inconsistent country and thus artform.

TIM EINENKEL: How has P.E. stayed together for almost 30 years? Has it be tough to find inspiration to write your music over this long period?

CHUCK D: The World is rich with People, Places and Things in that order. EVERY PERSON HAS A STORY. It pays to listen to the planet. Also the past 100 years of recorded music is a tremendous resource for music and lyrical ideas which probably have been heard and seen before…

TIM EINENKEL: The source of rap’s creativeness came from social, economic and racial inequalities. Rap is considered the “voice for the voiceless.” During the period you started rapping, it is easy to say where you got your inspiration came from but now rap has become so successful it is hard to tell what’s fantasy and what’s reality. Has rap benefited from it’s own success?

CHUCK D: Well let's put it to you this way like I said, I just came from Chile where the Hip Hop Nation there is far removed from USA reality or fantasy. The Hip Hop Nation marched 800,000 people in the streets to protest to the government, bad educational practices. Movements are in step with hip hop or I should say vice versa south of the equator with South America, Africa, Australia and Asia moving closer to Europe and North America in value and productivity.

When you say RAP has become so successful are you relating it from?? Jimmy Iovine, Russell and Lyor Cohen or Clive Davis vantage point? Or the total 35 year old Hip Hop Nation which is suddenly affected by large patches of its constituency facing aging with little or no covered healthcare. Flossing is a fantasy. But real hip hop has the ability to reflect reality and dictate a way out of it with forward mindedness.

TIM EINENKEL: Is the album a dying form? Seems today, rappers are only concerned with a hot single.

CHUCK D: First of all no art has been affected by technology as much as music. It has rode neck and neck with it for a 100 years since the piano sheets. History shouldn't be a mystery especially when its documented so well.

As music cats it behooves us to know key facts and dates of significant tech milestones. The album was introduced as a long playing piece of plastic by Columbia in the late 40s, the grooves were micro, thus more songs could be sold. This was great for jazz heads in the 50s and 60s with long sessions.

The 45 dominated with R&B at that time as with the giant of Rock and Roll. Radio and retail thrived off the single until 67 with Rock and about 1970 with Soul. The 45 and later 12 inch extended single was the hub of Soul then Disco then RAP. The 80s brought on the vinyl to cassette to CD phase so that major companies could SELL a RAP album. The deals with the CD and retail were stupendous for all of them. Plus there was a demand for more RAP music in the 80s and 90s so it became a album market by default.

The internet and the ability for many to create, and distribute songs has returned this to a singles marketplace. The immediacy to spin a topic on a dime and release has again brought the technological relationship into play.

Although we will deliver a committed album for our base the fact is that we do one song at a time, truly reflecting what I called RAP in the 80s HipHops C-N-N.

TIM EINENKEL: Which album are you most proud of?

CHUCK D: Albums are like children you don’t pick them like that. Each of them have presented incredible experiences I would say MUSE SICK N HOUR MESS AGE was very special in its National and International contrast as well as its predictions about the music and record business we are at today, and THERES A POISON GOIN ON - a very BOLD step in to the internet in 1999.

TIM EINENKEL: If you stopped rapping today, which song would you want to be known for? Why?

CHUCK D: Personally Welcome To The Terrordome, group-wise Fight The Power but in these increasingly Whippings Of Mass Distraction ages…it looks like Don't Believe The Hype is as relevant as ever...

TIM EINENKEL: Do you feel the artists who’ve paved the way for these new cats deserve residuals?

CHUCK D: Of course but in the areas of increased opportunity diversification, not a money handout.

Too bad the record business is just a sham of a shell, because for years I suggested that they use veteran acts to develop their departments who signed young new acts. Similar to coaches in sports, whereas a older head put the younger ones through a training rites of passage. In years past the road was the natural passage, the vet acts headlined and the new ones opened. We had Doug E Fresh and Whodini as our immediate teachers. I had to get anointed through cats like Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee to get passed.

Greed of the industry wiped out this eco-system whereas even 2 weeks ago in Brazil I interviewed Redman and Method Man who took note on the fact that there were so many unproven cats getting first class privilege before they had an album or really moved a consistent crowd.

This is why my partner Gary G-Wiz and I started www.HIPHOPGODS.com - it's where CLASSIC RAP lives on in its own right, 15 ears eligibility makes it like the senior circuit in golf. You don't see Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer play these new cats, they keep in their lane. RAP speaking CLASSIC artists are still cutting great music, shooting videos as well as involving and corralling their fan bases in digital social networks now. We wanted to create an internetwork that supports this world and along with RAPstation and SHEmovement (For SISTERS in HIPHOP EVERYWHERE) - the internetwork is gaining great attention as a necessary service.

TIM EINENKEL: Is rap a dying art form? Is Hip-Hop a dying culture in America?

CHUCK D: RAP as an art form is a vocal on top of musics we've defined already, it's not going anywhere. It's requirements for high art are vocabulary and elocution. Natural things like voice and character figure as well, either you got that or you don't. Superrappers are being developed in other lands, cats that can spit and braid languages with equal aplomb. This cant be achieved lazily. Moving a world crowd requires the effort of making it high art. What Busta Rhymes just did on Chris Brown's record was stunning. Not easy.

The world has caught up in RAP and has surpassed the USA because the styles, applications and topics are too similar and comfortable from a mainstream vantage point. The underground currents remain largely ignored and most new approaches follow just what they hear on the radio or music TV. The culture fundamentals have been followed and trained HIP HOP and RAP across the planet thus its participants have excelled and their fan bases moved with necessary excitement to support itself.

TIM EINENKEL: Thank you for taking the time Chuck.

CHUCK D: Thanks Tim. I can be heard on RAPstation.com on the AndYouDontStop! radio show which is like an NPR, magazine approach for HIPHOP and RAP. It's played on 99.5 WBAI in New York City 75% of the year on Friday night's between 8p-10p. Also my SONGS THAT MEAN SOMETHING segment can be found on RAPstation as well....I play GLOCAL music taking local artists globally and global acts locally LIVE in NYC.

- Tim Einenkel for HIPHOPGODS & RAPstation.com

[VIsqo]

Really good interview. Thanks for bringing it!

[Turntable]

I just wanna bring something to your attention again:

"If the Palestinians took up arms, went into Israel and killed all the Jews, it'd be alright" .-Professor Griff (Founding member of Public Enemy) in Melody Maker (May 28, 1988 Issue)

This is one of the clearly insane things members of Public Enemy have said over the years.

Now if you excuse me, I'll go back to listening Otis. Don't believe the Hype.

P.S. Just in case ya'll wanna start something about me being disrespectfull: I've heard every PE album more than one time. I know they are Legends. But so is Hove.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Turntable