Hip Hop pioneer and Public Enemy founder Chuck D is helping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop by joining with PBS and BBC Music for a docuseries called Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed The World. The four part docuseries examines not only the history of hip hop, but also how the music genre helped change the world.
The series which borrows it’s name from Public Enemy’s signature song Fight the Power also looks at how hip hop both inspired political movements and how political movements utilized hip hop in delivering messages. On Monday (January 23rd) a special community screening of part one of the series was held at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture with Chuck D along with producing partner Lorrie Boula, PBS Vice President, Multiplatform Programming & Head of Development and journalist Nelson George in attendance.
Following the screening, George moderated a Q&A with the producers and Gardner. “It was always on my mind like damn this narrative has to be protected but I’m not gonna have no conversations with big corporations because we don’t really talk well.” Chuck D said. “So I would always go to Lorrie, we had done some things managed some things and I said you know when do we start making making important great things that are more than just popularity and this is when conversations started with places I respected like PBS, and BBC as opposed to Viacom”, Chuck D added. When George asked Chuck D about what sets this documentary apart from previous ones, Chuck used Ice T’s Art of Rap as a reference point stating that while Ice T’s documentary examined the art of rap, Fight the Power goes in depth to explore the history of the music genre in an effort to serve as an extension of that documentary.
“One of the beautiful things about human beings is that even though the South Bronx and New York City as a whole were under siege, people will still find their joy and know how to make art,” Lorrie shared about the time period during when hip hop was born which also highlights the docuseries mission to show how Black people are able to utilize their creativity in unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances. Lorrie also shared that the project took longer than expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the goal was always to release the docuseries in connection with the 50th anniversary of hip hop. She also expressed that the BBC were great partners that gave them the space to do what they needed to do. Lorrie also pointed out that the docuseries will present angles that will show the range of depth that hip hop creators have possessed that the media often doesn’t touch upon.
Gardner expressed that in conversations with the producers and the BBC he iterated in letting the people who lived the story tell the story that represents a lot of our lives, rather than just have the commentary from the experts.
Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World will premiere on PBS January 31st. Chuck D will also release an art book titled Livin’ Loud which will be published on February 7 by Genesis Publications (ChuckDBook.com). The book features over 250 artworks created by Chuck D himself, along with engaging commentary which will guide the reader through his thought process and inspirations, from his early experiences growing up in the Sixties through his early roots in hip hop and the central figures that critically shaped him and his voice, the formation of Public Enemy through to their Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction, his time with Prophets of Rage through to current day world affairs
