The history of black music holds a key to the passion and foundation of a people. I hear today's R&B piped in the bathroom at WBLS FM radio in NYC while im over on the am side doing airamerica radio at WLIB. I personaliy think there's massive soul leakage from todays so called rhythm and blues for the sake of the bottom line in record companies.this might seem like an old rant coming from me but technically im gonna break it down.

The lowest common denominator here is the inclusion of a processed sampled beat. If the arrangement is repetitious it can lead to a very shortened musical lifespan. Soul was not meant to hear all the best parts overtly. Soul is within and is meant to be felt. Thus if it got soul its topics can be felt diverse and spread across the board. Soul is simply not quantified in a way you can actually put a definition and a figure to it.

Today's r&b ballads for the most part are too syrupy and too narrow topically to expand past a female demographic . When i was a kid i could and still can appreciate the Temptations, Four Tops,Gladys Knight Ike and Tina etc. Even though they were grown and knew they weren't talkin to me i had to be awed by the layers of Soul i could not yet fully comprehend but only could feel. Yes, rap music borrowed 'soul' during the cover band early 80s and sampled crazed mid 80s till early 90s when the sample laws climbed into effect.

Topically the subject matter automatically had soul because much of the words related to either everyday struggle or community upwardness. And the plain fun records made your funkbone just feel it. This simply is not just subjective. Theres a reason its called soul. And today's music is not.

Dancehall is a twisted reggae while copping some vocal and musical elements of roots culture , one can tell you no ones hardly Bob Marley. Not even close. Even rock which had cats emulate the fiffs of blues joints had a feel before the predicted sound. So if theres a dribbling down of the sonic pallette where does this leave us spiritually in the music? Especially if its been mcdonaldlized...processed.. or in other words just sufficient for the moment .

On the airamerica radio network i talk about a lotta issues on a daily basis. In new york where airamerica has leased the signal of former blacktalk am station WLIB the other side of the floor is FM legendary station WBLS. Of course they pipe the music through out the entire floor and even the bathroom as mentioned before . As my concentration and broadcast job hinges upon the day to day ridiculousless of the amerikkkan government, blackradios discussion at that same time rolls from Michael Jax and his child case, Mike Tyson and his issues ,and Mike Jordan losing 5 mil gambling in AC with some blonde chick on his lap. This is some dumb sht, considering what exactly is happening worldwide at this very moment.

But this urban radio has an excuse stating in essence that the black listening audience has little or no time to check out political issue or in the Fearless Four terminology 'Problems In The World Today'......so obviously when major issues arise, the community seems so distant from learning about them. Joblessness, homelessness,drug abuse,disease,along with the lack of control over education,employment,and enforcement have positioned the black community to the point of dire straits. You wouldn't know this While this is not anything new,i would suppose that the disconnect has now led to a zone of denial. Younger heads have not been privy to the legacy of the music because marketing departments figure they cant sell history to this demographic audience.

Instead its an industry that cannot cater to the needs of the people outside of the sonic offering. The people in the laundry mats and catching the bus are depended upon feeding the rich further into the point of excess. It reminds me of the days when the kings and queens would roll thru the township only to collect praise from its starving citizens.

This psychological dependancy on the music and culture has led to the social acceptence of being pimped out. A hoe society accepts being dictated to, and now with culture starting from the bowels of bored-rooms one must wonder if they're getting fed or getting bit and chewed off at the same time. Again ,i figure video killed the radio star long ago, but damn i feel in this multimedia webworld... radio has its own unique quality and is only half of what it should be.

The first week of May caught yours truly alongside Spike Lee on the HBO Bob Costas show. The interview highlighted the 15th year anniversary of Do The Right Thing hence also Fight The Power. Being a fan of sportscasters I was asked about Marv Albert being the most soulful white dude on tv. I answered yeah but was left outside of the Stratomatic conversation that Bob and Spike shared..it was the only 60s-70s thing regarding sports that I didnt participate in.

The Roy Jones Jr fight should make peeps realize that any professional can when on any given night....in Roys own words it happens like that sometimes ....im tired of non sports cats who don’t know the sport or game and didn’t realize that Roy got hit with a bomb and didn’t see it coming. Tarvers a southpaw and I thought that Roy was disoriented for a flash-second glancing at Tarvers right while throwing a left hook. Enough of a flash to get hit with a hook. Hey that’s boxing..im not even a specific Roy Jones Jr fan..im a fan of boxing and for those making of the bandwagon cats saying Roys over, they got to be stupid for even thinking that.

The dress style in Toronto nowadays is straight outta videoland...i was approached in a lobby by a group of young kids heading to church of all places geared out like D12..never judge a book... But still shirts are so long along with baseball caps is this Sidewalk Universities caps and gowns???

The laker-spurs game was simply one of the best games ive ever witnessed...

How big has hip hop gotten...? Just take a stroll thru Times Square ..puffsters covering one building ..Eves covering another ...then a host of smaller ads...again i could see this happen in my mind as far back as 1986...but the urban marketing delay of madison avenue couldnt figure then...

The states offered Nick Berg a flight back.....and he didnt take it....this so called war gets more confusing by the moment...

Stay tuned to AOL where yours truly is contributing a top 15 countdown show called Chuck Ds Worldwide Hip Hop Countdown ..it launches this week on AOL radio..

Flav has been Seen everywhere in Los Angeles since his relocation there,most recently he appeared on the Bernie Mac Show, and his recent appearance at Motowns 45th anniversary a tv special on ABC TV. He went there with Jermaine Jackson and has been with everyone from Bushwick Bill of Geto Boy fame to Rodney Allen Rippy..also for trivial pursuit Fight The Power was one of the top 3 largest selling 12 inch records ever on Motown where the Do The Right Thing soundtrack rolled thru.

Rolling Stone magazine recently annointed PE as one of the 50 immortal acts ever in rock and roll. It was voted between artists and journalists. Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys wrote the much appreciated dedication,as I did one similar for Run-Dmc. Im a fan of the history of recorded sound period was awestruck to be placed alongside BO Diddley,Chuck Berry,James Brown etc..

Congrats go to all on the new Enemy Board whereas On the gig forefront participation in this years Hip Hop Appreciation Week headed by Krs-Ones Temple Of Hip hop... SOBs was on may 18th, To all those who think that the Hip-Hop nation has no sense of history, that the fathers/mothers are forgotten, that all that matters now is "bling bling", that positivity and conscious content are from back in the day, Wednesday night's concert showed just how wrong you are! History was on the stage that night, History was in the House, History was made. An epic summit meeting of the founders of the musical revolution that changed the world- (Kurtis Blow, during his uplifting set, told the wildly cheering audience that "2004 marks 30 years in Hip-Hop for me- 30 years!!")- it was truly an incredible, unforgettable, one-of-a-kind evening.

The Temple of Hip Hop in conjunction with Meridian Entertainment and SOB"s put together an unprecedented "True School" Hip Hop Show that was sold out and packed from wall to wall. Featuring sets by Supa Nova Slom, Jace, Kurtis Blow, Poor Righeous Teachers, Grandmaster Caz with Melle Mel (aka Muscle Simmons), Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles, L.A. Sunshine of the Treacherous Three and Rahim the Dream, KRS-1 with Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, the music just kept on coming all night long!! And it wasn't "no nostalgia show!" as Grandmaster Caz put it- these guys were at the top of their game- slicing and dicing, pulling no punches. Special guest sets included mind-blowing beatboxing from Rahzell and Kenny Muhammad. Hard Hittin Harry hosted the show and who else could rock the turntables all night but the one and only Kenny Parker.

Just some of the heads in the house last night: DJ Red Alert, Rock Steady Crew, DJ AJ (of Kurtis Blow), Jeru the Damaja, Lord Finesse, Cold Crush Brothers, Kool Herc, Renee Neufville, Russell Simmons...and many many more.

The following was from Planet Meridians press release …When I got there it was electric to the point of dizziness. After KRS pretty much arranged the pattern of the show whereas he, myself, and KANE would do 2-5 records at a time. It was awkward for me a bit because I brought out Fine Arts Militia as a backing band featuring DJ Johnny Juice on the tabes. Still it was a lotta fun, as at the end the stage was fulla 50 mcs… I kept trying to get Lord Finesse and LA Sunshine light on the mike. Jeru the Damaja as always was so awesome….WISE Intelligent…always shows passion and class. The inner stories include Kurtis Blow as a proud father carrying around and showing his sons stellar high school report card to all. And Grandmixer DXT playing the drums…what?…and seeing Harry Allen. The funniest moment of the night …Melle Mel walks in the room and says hes Muscle Simmons….even funnier someone yelled out that he was Harlem Schwarzenegger…

the Hip hop Convention in Newark june, Zen festival on july 12th Expect updates on these summer dates here by mid june.

PE Readies The Earth For cd dvd Explosion Since PEs 51st tour back in December theres not been sleep. Coming in june -july are releases coming thru the new archive arrangement with Universal . Power To The People and The Beats is a true greatest hits collection leading to a slew of special releases over the next 2 years. A dvd component Power To The People and The Videos in July will also emerge. All this leading into the PE-Moby Make Love Fk War Olympic theme for EMI and the 2 subsequent new albums. The first album 'How You Sell Soul To A Souless People Who Sold Their Soul? Is looking like september 2004 and New Whirl Odor is looking like feb 2005. Dont fret because interspersed with these releases are various dvd & cd reissues and combos leading up to the PE boxset summer 2005..stay locked right here on www.publicenemy.com homepage

SLAMSITE NEWS At The Edge Of Summer 2004 Finally SLAMJAMZ multitiered planning has reached into the real world. This summer 2004 signifies the offline distribution of the label. Acts like THE IMPOSSEBULLS and 7th OCTAVE are looking to set in JULY. Soulman Kyle Jason has wrapped up his cd/dvd for august release, expect a reissue,repackaged with music DJ LORD cd/dvd that same month. DIRTY NORTH, MOST HI-FI,THE SCALLIONS and CREW GRRL ORDER look to set off fall-winter of 2004-5. SLAMjamz packaging besides the cd/dvd innovations are the 7 inch promos and the convienient 7.5 inch square promo kit. Besides this the slam site will continue to post mp3s of its acts for license and film-tv options as well as the midline web-order page for special albums such as Regenerated Headpiece,PE live cds,and other acts not in the traditional distribution pipeline.

Slamjamz wax officially distributed by peeps vinyl. ______________________________ Peeps vinyl The official vinyl label for public enemy and SLAMjamz records also is involved in cd distribution as well. This label formed by Gary-G Wiz and Chuck D was formed as a production extension and necessary outlet for product and classic collectable for the dj and hip hop affecionado. Peeps also looks to release a limited roster of special hip hop acts such as negotiations with Soul Project a collective from Kansas City,and WARparty an indigenous rap squad from Winnipeg Canada. Peeps will be distributed by a company to be named at a later date...

SLAMjamz, Peeps acts To Be Featured On New Rio mp3 Players... Now that portable mp3 players are understood by Americans thanks in oart to the massive Apple Ipod marketing campaign , RIO which was one of if not the first portable mp3 players has commissioned -licensed 15 songs from SLAMjamz and the affiliated PEEPSvinyl imprint to be built into the player as a bonus. Prevously SLAMjamz was involved in a similar promotion 2 years ago but since RIO had been sold to UK manufacturer DENON the opportunity didnt arise. Now recently an article in Billboard magazine showned a recent player with the Public Enemy song Revolverlution on it.

Henry Adebonojo Exclusively Becomes SLAMjamz Photographer.. Henry Adebonojo recently accomplished 2 photo sessions of slAMjamz artists one in Strong Island hq April , the other at the end of april at slAMjamz south. I first met Henry as a cameraman on PEs first trip to Africa in 1992. Chuck was surprised to find out that PE bandleader Bryan Hardgroove had commissioned him for the Fine Arts Militia photo shoot. 'Im a bluenote records fan and i was looking for that approach to signify slamjamz since im looking to lean it towards a classic approach....' Henry has shown he can truly nail this look and we can connect this to a sound and vibe coming'.

In NYC theres no better time than the spring where getting your walk on means much sights and sounds... And im in the middle of it…..