b. Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, 1 August 1960, Roosevelt, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA. As the principal lyricist of Public Enemy, Chuck D. can lay claim to having written some of the highest-impact lines in the history of rock 'n' roll. However, as that group's vitality decreased, by the mid-90s a Chuck D. solo album seemed an obvious next step for the artist. Autobiography Of Mistachuck, released in 1996, reinforced his credentials as rap music's most eloquent commentator. As he stressed on "Free Big Willie": "There once was a time we fought the power with a rhyme, Now the attitude goin' round, no use tryin'." In fact, much of the album offered a critique on the rise of gangsta rap, its glamorization of violence and misogyny, and the rise of the car and clothes as consumer status symbols. One of the most effective tracks was "But Can You Kill The Nigger In You?", a collaboration with Isaac Hayes that asked pertinent questions about the end result for those who invest in their own mythology rather than their own community. A further track, "Horizontal Heroin", featured Professor Griff, the controversial former member of Public Enemy who left the group in 1989 after making allegedly anti-Semitic comments to the Washington Times.

Listen to Chuck D at Finetune.

• Sing A Simple Song

• Public Enemy
• De La Soul
• A Tribe Called Quest
• LL Cool J
• Jungle Brothers
• RUN-DMC
• Ice Cube
• Q-Tip
• Digable Planets
• Busta Rhymes
• Dr. Dre
• Beastie Boys
• Boogie Down Productions
• The Brand New Heavies
• Eric B. & Rakim
• Black Sheep
• Guru
• 3rd Bass
• Gangstarr
• Pete Rock & CL Smooth

• MetalHeadMike
• PJ997

• MetalHeadMike on 2007-03-21 13:35:08.813:
  Chuckin' the D, dawg! that's what it's all about!