Over the course of his celebrated career, Chuck D has consistently — and expertly — delivered politically-charged bars over powerful and frenetic production. His new Mistachuck solo project, Celebration Of Ignorance, harnesses that same energy for the duration of its 10 tracks.
From his thoughts on 45 and his “Cavemanic” behavior to LeBron James and the destruction of Mother Earth, Chuck and his partner-in-rhyme Jahi of P.E. 2.0 kick plenty of knowledge as they swap their verses.
“I make sure that I do a release every year,” Chuck tells HipHopDX. “In this case, the Celebration Of Ignorance is the subject that just came out of the discussion of what I see and think about at this moment. It’s actually based off of a Carl Sagan book. I decided to write the album surrounding it. It doesn’t look to reinvent the wheel. It’s just a reflection of this time and this space now that I have and being able to put it into a cultural mode.”
Jahi adds, “It’s based on an excerpt from Sagan’s book The Demon-Haunted World. It provided an opportunity to let the mic and music speak. The goal is to know the tradition of showing respect to your elders in Hip Hop. Chuck D is not just one of the greatest minds we have in Hip Hop and the world, we also move as brothers of the same mind.
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“In giving maximum respect and salute, I did my best to bring my penmanship, add something and follow Chuck’s lead.”
With production from David “C-Doc” Snyder, Celebration Of Ignorance also shines a light on Jahi’s innate lyrical skills.
“He’s a labelmate and he’s also the first MC I commissioned to do work in Public Enemy as far as an opening MC or Master of Ceremonies,” Chuck says. “Project Experience Millennial — that’s what PE 2.0 means and Jahi is more like Mr. Chuck D. We decided to be more of accompanying duo hitting at these topics. Like I said, I chose him to be another MC in Public Enemy because of not only his tenure, but his ability to move the crowd.”
And at the end of the day, that’s one of Chuck’s specialties. He’s been rocking stages with Public Enemy and now Prophets Of Rage for decades. He’s not as concerned about record sales as he is with getting an impactful message across.
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“It’s my firm belief that a lot of people want to get buzz and they want to do anything to make noise, so they can get a sale,” he says. “The theme about the SpitSLAM Record Label Group is that we want to have a dignified roster of artists that make statements. We don’t thirst for the sale. We thirst for the placement.”
Check out the album stream, cover art and tracklist below.
- TiredOf45 (12.30.84)
- BOT
- Ain’t No
- Cavemanic
- MutterERT
- sPEak On It!
- freedBLACK
- Blacknificent
- Celebration of Ignorance
- TiredOf45 (10.18.18)
