Chuck D Coming to St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure University will host Chuck D, the recognized leader and co-founder of legendary rap group Public Enemy, for a candid discussion on “Race, Rap and Reality.” The free program is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, April 24, in the Reilly Center Arena on campus. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Chuck D has made a loud impact in the music industry, which few have transcended. He redefined rap music and hip-hop culture with the release of Public Enemy’s explosive debut album, “Yo! Bum Rush the Show,” in 1987.

His lecture will address serious issues that go beyond rap music, such as electoral politics, Internet file sharing, the representation of urban space and culture, and race in the media, offering his audiences a jolting combination of intelligence and eloquence.

Born Carlton Ridenhour in Roosevelt, Long Island, Chuck D formed Public Enemy in 1982. Two decades after the group’s debut album was released they went on to produce 12 more albums, which delivered powerful messages about race, rage, reality and inequality. Three of the 12 went multi-platinum. Chuck D and Public Enemy were celebrated in the May 2004 issue of Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “fifty most important performers in rock and roll history.”

Chuck D is a national spokesperson for Rock the Vote, the National Urban League and the National Alliance of African American Athletes. He is featured in the critically acclaimed documentary, “Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome,” a retrospective of the group and its incredible impact on American music. Variety magazine has called the film “one of the best of its kind – intimate, powerful, astute and absorbing.”

In 1999, he was named to Upside magazine’s “Elite 100” list of Internet leaders, alongside the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. In 2001, Chuck D created an online, offline and midline artist distribution channel through his record label SLAMjamz and launched a radio station on the Internet, bringthenoise.com, which made Public Enemy the first multi-platinum-selling act to release an album via the Web before it was available in retail stories.

He continues to write his own books and music that highlight social injustice and community empowerment. As a result, he is often called upon to be a spokesperson for hip hop and rap music on television, radio, documentary and book projects.

This program is sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Journalism/Mass Communication, School of Education, University Ministries, Orientation, First-Year Experience program, Office of Admissions, Damietta Center, Vice Provost for Enrollment, Campus Activities Board, Student Government Association, Higher Education Opportunity Program and the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

High schools and colleges that plan to bring a group of students to the lecture are asked to reserve seating by contacting Jonelle Massey at jhmassey@sbu.edu.