Public Enemy Once Used An Imposter To Fill In For Chuck D At A Show

BYAron A.3.0K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Rick Kern/Getty Images
Rappers Flavor Flav (L) and Chuck D of Public Enemy perform onstage at Samsung Galaxy Life Fest at SXSW 2016 on March 12, 2016 in Austin, Texas.
Chuck D managed to have an entourage member take his place during his absence.

Public Enemy has been in the game for well over 30 years. According to Chuck D, they've played 4,162 but not all of them went on according to plan. Chuck D, who's getting ready to hit the road on the "Gods Of Rap" tour, recently spoke to HipHopDX about the time that the group was forced to have an entourage take his place during his absence.

In 1988, Run-DMC recruited EPMD, JJ Fad, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince and Public Enemy for the "Run's House" tour. The tour was scheduled for a show in Omaha, Nebraska but Chuck D was in New York and had to fly in to make it there for the show. 

“Our position was usually third in the lineup,” he explained. “So it started out J.J. Fad, EPMD and then third, P.E. would play and then Will and Jeff would play between us and then Run-DMC to give it great contrast."

He explained that he tried to get his tour manager to switch the set times in order for him to make it on time but by the time he got to the venue, Public Enemy just wrapped things up.

"I was going to get out there late and I told the tour manager at the time, ‘Look, have Will and Jeff go on in our slot this one time. I’ll get there in time to go right before Run," he explained. "Sure enough, I get there, I get out of the cab, run through a cornfield, right? [Laughs] and get to the Omaha Music Hall. I see the dressing room and everybody’s getting dressed. I’m like, ‘What the hell? We ready to go on?’ They said, ‘We did the show.’ ‘I said, ‘How you do the show?’ This was before videos, so Mike Williams, one of the S1Ws, was able to pull the hat over his eyes and be inconspicuous.”


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
...