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Chuck D

Highest Rated: 100% Survivors Guide to Prison (2018)

Lowest Rated: 8% An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn (1997)

Birthday: Aug 1, 1960

Birthplace: Roosevelt, New York, USA

The frontman and prime mover of Public Enemy, Chuck D (born Carlton Ridenhour) was a key figure in the development of hip-hop, one of the movement's first social and political spokesmen. Both he and William Drayton (alias his Public Enemy partner Flavor Flav) were students at Adelphi University on Long Island; Chuck earned a BFA in graphic design. He also hosted one of the first regular hip-hop shows at independent radio station WLIR, and later moved into community station WBAU. To promote the latter show, he and Flav cut a single, "Check Out the Radio," under the name of Chuck D and Spectrum City. The sound of the record, with the rap underlined by heavy funk riffing, anticipated fusions to come. Public Enemy made its above-ground debut as the opening act on the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill tour, where PEs stage image (they were flanked by Uzi-carrying bodyguards) was a notable contrast to the young Beasties' party vibe. Their first album Yo! Bum Rush the Show was released after the tour, and proved influential for its gritty imagery and dense, sample-driven production. However the real breakthrough was 1988's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back which produced two anthems in "Bring the Noise" and "Don't Believe the Hype," and whose conscious lyrics and dense soundscapes made it one of the most-praised and biggest-selling albums in rap to that point. The classic run continued with the non-LP single "Fight the Power" (from Spike Lee's film "Do the Right Thing" (1989), 1990's Fear of a Black Planet.Though there was a brief flap when some of Chuck's lyrics on the single "Welcome to the Terrordome" were interpreted as anti-Semitic, the album was arguably the last time that Public Enemy truly captured the zeitgeist. While the crew's place in rap history was now secure, Public Enemy's later career would be a mix of triumphant moments (like the '91 single "Can't Truss It," which addressed the legacy of slavery; and the 1998 Spike Lee soundtrack "He Got Game") along with albums, like 1999's Revolverlution, which were considered a letdown from the peak era. But Chuck D would remain a respected figure as he did more work outside the group-- collaborating with musicians as diverse as Sonic Youth (on their single "Kool Thing"), Rage Against the Machine, George Clinton and probably most surprisingly, Meat Loaf. His own solo debut, 1996's Autobiography of Mistachuck, wasn't lyrically far from the Public Enemy template but the music was more steeped in classic R&B. Under the name Confrontation Camp, he also made an album (2000's Objects in the Mirror are Closer Than They Appear) with Kyle Jason-- who like Chuck hosted a show on the progressive political Air America channel. (Chuck's show, Unfiltered, was co-hosted by a pre-TV Rachel Maddow). He was a commentator in numerous rap documentaries, reported on Barack Obama's inauguration for the BBC, and even played a comic role in Judd Apatow's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004). Public Enemy's 14th album, Nothing is Quick in the Desert, was released as a free download in 2017.

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Highest rated movies

100% 70% Survivors Guide to Prison Watchlist
97% 65% Mavis!
Watchlist
94% 82% All Things Must Pass Watchlist
86% 77% Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap
Watchlist
77% 53% The King Watchlist
8% 15% An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn
Watchlist
Full Court: The Spencer Haywood Story
Watchlist
Hustlers Convention
Watchlist
Sign the Show: Deaf Culture, Access & Entertainment
Watchlist
100% Cover Your Ears
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet 100% Cover Your Ears Self - 2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History Narrator - 2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sign the Show: Deaf Culture, Access & Entertainment Self - 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Use of Force: The Policing of Black America Narrator - 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking Self - 2021
100% 70% Survivors Guide to Prison Self - 2018
77% 53% The King Self $253.0K 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet Full Court: The Spencer Haywood Story Narrator - 2016
97% 65% Mavis! Self - 2015
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hustlers Convention Unknown (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2015
94% 82% All Things Must Pass Self $166.9K 2015
No Score Yet No Score Yet Heights Girl Dr. Steve (Character) - 2014
86% 77% Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap Unknown (Character) $288.3K 2012
No Score Yet No Score Yet FunkJazz Kafe: Diary of a Decade (The Story of a Movement) Narrator - 2012
No Score Yet 79% On the Shoulders of Giants Unknown (Character),
Original Music
- 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop Unknown (Character) - 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Quiet Arrangement Captain Ambercrombie (Character) - 2009
No Score Yet 91% Big Pun: The Legacy Unknown (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet No Score Yet City Teacher Unknown (Character) - 2006
No Score Yet 56% Anchorman: Wake Up, Ron Burgundy -- The Lost Movie Malcolm Y (Character) - 2004
No Score Yet No Score Yet Afrocentricity Unknown (Character) - 2000
8% 15% An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn Leon Brothers (Character),
Original Music
$43.9K 1997

TV

Credit
71% No Score Yet Camden Self 2024
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World Unknown (Character),
Host,
Creator
2023
No Score Yet 48% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet Classic Albums Self 2021
100% No Score Yet AMC Visionaries: Rap Yearbook Unknown (Character) 2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tavis Smiley Guest 2014 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Great Songwriters Self 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet 30 for 30 Narrator 2013
No Score Yet No Score Yet Space Ghost: Coast to Coast Guest 1997
95% 79% NewsRadio Himself (Guest Star) 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Yo! MTV Raps Classic Self 1988