Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Chuck D: Toronto Mike'd #493

Episode Date: July 27, 2019

Mike chats with Public Enemy's Chuck D about the origins of hip-hop in Toronto, Public Enemy Radio vs. Public Enemy and the Toronto Raptors.

Hey, what's up? This is Chuck D. You are listening to Toronto Mike right here, right now in the place to be. What up, Mike? Toronto. VK on the beat. I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love. I'm from Toronto where you wanna get the city love. I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love. My city love me back for my city love. Welcome to episode 493 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything.

Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, Palma Pasta Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair StickerU dot com and Capadia LLP CPAs I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is Chuck

D is Chuck D. Chuck's not in the Toronto Mike's studio. I broke one of my own rules, and I will do this when the guest is somebody like Chuck D. Chuck D did not have time in his busy schedule to make his way to New Toronto and sit down in the studio. So I packed up my studio and I biked it to the C&E grounds. And I was very lucky to get 20 minutes with Chuck. What an unbelievable

experience that was. So here at Toronto's Festival of Beer is my conversation with Public Enemy's Chuck D. Chuck, Chuck, let me hear, just let me hear

you on the mic just to get the levels here this chair seems to be sinking oh I know it's awful eh yeah yeah uh one two oh man you sound great can you do a uh you're listening to Toronto Mike I wish hey what's up this is Chuck D you are listening to Toronto Mike right here right now in the place the place to be. Oh man, you made my day. So I was watching you watching Mishy Me. Yes. And you're trying to get a little dinner in, and you're, you know, the fans

just, they realize Chuck D is here, and they line up, they want their selfies. Like, can you go anywhere? Yeah, but, you know, I could go anywhere. I could be noticed when I want to be noticed. But Mishy's doing her performance, so this is the only place to see her. So I got to be up stage right in front and pay my respects, and that's what I did.

So you got to understand that people are going to come up to you and want to take pictures. So you don't want to be too disrespectful. You're taking pictures instead of checking out the show. I'm Toronto Mike. This is uh a toronto centric podcast mishy me friend of the show's been over i want to ask you if i can jog your memory here yes origin of hip-hop in toronto so we're gonna go way back here do you mind spending a little time to know his arc yeah if you don't mind maybe open by talking a little bit about mishy me, like when you first saw Mishy Me, what you thought, if you don't mind. Yeah, Mish was part of the talent that was coming out of Toronto

was coming through my man Errol Nazareth from the Toronto Sun, and he was always talking big about the scene. And later on, Mishia and I became friends like in the 90s, but I always supported her work in Fresh West. And then later on, the 90s emcees, the Chocolates and Socrates, Cardinals. Were you aware of the rap battles, these infamous rap battles between the New York rappers and Mishimi, and these were taking place back in the late 80s?

Yeah, well, I knew that for a fact because it was a short trip from New York to get up here. And back in the day, it was easy to get through here. So there was a lot of back and forth to get up here. And back in the day, it was easy to get through here. Yeah. So there was a lot of back and forth. You know, influences going both ways. A lot of people Caribbean up here. Also, you know, their tongue is a little quicker and sharper.

And a lot of emcees from New York who probably didn't have that Caribbean background and just wanted to keep it straight out of New York hip-hop only without the roots of it. You know, they were finding themselves, like, in a spin. So the Toronto MCs knew that they wasn't going to get the New York deals, although Missy was the first to actually get herself a deal in the industry. But a lot of Toronto MCs, they took 10 to 15 years to build their own scene and say, all right, not only forget New York, but forget the United States. And I thought that was always a move. I thought they should be able to take,

do you know DJ Ron Nelson? Of course. Ron Nelson was the first person that brought us here. And I think we played the gym, uh, gymnasium first, like a U of T maybe like, uh,

yeah, there was a place also named the government here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Condos now. Yeah. really and um i remember you know just you know always being here in the wintertime and on young street and and also you know leaving toronto and playing waterloo and hamilton and Sudbury and knowing about these areas too. So I think there was an infamous public enemy tour in the winter of 89.

Same year as Fight the Power, but earlier on in the year. Any details? Details. What do you remember? Going to these towns and people being surprised that we would come to those towns. Discovering there's two Londons. Yeah, that's right. London, Canada, Ottawa.

So DJ Ron Nelson, he had this show on this local station called CKLN. It was called Fantastic Voyage. And he's been over to my place. We've talked. and it was called Fantastic Voyage. Right. And, I mean, he's been over to my place. We've talked, and he's, yeah, like you said,

he was instrumental in bringing, like, the first big hip-hop acts to the city of Toronto. Right. Did you ever play the concert hall? Yes, played the concert hall, and played quite a few venues here. And the big thing is that even you have major media, which is Rap City or Much Music.

I thought Much Music was amazing. I thought they were way better than what MTV was doing, which was none at all, and what BET was going to. The Rap City that was up here in hip-hop was covered way more thoroughly than in the United States. A person over there, Michelle Geister, was a big helping hand. Do you remember the Rap City hosts that you... Michael Williams. Yeah. They documented it well. They did it without trying to be the rapper.

They did it from, okay, I'm just a regular person covering rap music. I thought that was cool, too. That's great perspective for me because, I mean, I watched Rap City, but I never saw the MTV or the BET equivalents. So what did I know how it compared? Because I was going to ask you to... You guys did it better up here. You curated it better up here.

Now, I asked Ron Nelson about, you know, what was the difference between, you know, the Canadian hip-hop scene that he was a part of and the American scene. And he told me it was the Caribbean influence that you had in Toronto. Did you notice that, that like Rumble is strong? Immediately.

I'm from New York, so you know people from the Caribbean, you know. But in New York, you you know people from the Caribbean. But in New York, you've got a bigger mix of Caribbean. Here, it's like Jamaican because the territory is English-speaking. But in New York, you're Haitians. I didn't know the Haitian population here or Dominican Republic or Puerto Ricans, they also figure in the mix of the beginnings of hip-hop in in New York as well as you know just straight black American you know roots from the

south and you know places like that so that mix is a little different here was this more distinct Caribbean Jamaican uh Grenada you know St.itts, that type of the English British territories. Right. Yeah. Maybe spend a moment talking about my man, Maestro. You dropped his name. So last time I saw public enemy,

right. You brought Maestro and Mishimi on stage at the sound Academy, which is now the rebel. And Maestro, uh, busted that freestyle on, uh, the dude that was the mayor Ford at the time. Yeah. Rob Ford. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. B busted that freestyle on the dude that was the mayor, Ford at the time?

Yeah, Rob Ford. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Busted that freestyle. And I remember the place erupting on that one. No, it was just amazing to be there. And so I'm wondering what you can say about Wes, friend of the show, great ambassador for The Six. I always compared his style like a little bit of like Big Daddy Kane, if you will. He had that smooth style.

So what can you share with me about Maestro when you kind of discovered him or learned about him? What did you... We toured with Maestro a couple of dates that we played here in Canada.

And I first noticed that, you know, his style was similar to Kane influence, and we played in the West. We played in the West over in Windsor, and I think it was a Winnipeg gig in there or something. I could be wrong. But, yeah, I know my Canadian territories very well. And from then, West became just a favorite you know whether he was

fresh and dropped the fresh you know i always call him you know mr west he's he's coach west now he's coach west uh yeah you're right he had that period where he actually went to new york and he dropped the uh the fresh well he went by maestro for a while but i think we're back to maestro fresh west now but uh but you know the thing about it also yeah i also thought was tight that that He went by Maestro for a while, but I think we're back to Maestro Fresh West now. But you know the thing about it also that I also thought was tight, that a lot of the Canadian artists, they had helpings from the government, and I thought that was important.

And I also thought that they had their own awards, the Juno Awards. Yes. And I thought that it was also helpful that they were diversified in many other areas way before the U.S. artists were doing it because Mishy acted on a TV show. Wes acted. And Drake came up out of the whole acting thing. Degrassi. Grew up with it, yeah.

So, I mean, they were really truly artists, you know, and truly are artists to this day. What do you think of Drake? I think he's the evolution of what has happened. And, you know, whenever I think of Drake, I hear somebody talk about Drake, I say, hey, I understand. I mean, don't slip and sleep on the roots because he's come up out of the roots, you know.

No Michie, no Wes, no Drake. No Chocolat, no Cardinal, no Drake. And he'll say that, though. He knows that. When I kicked out the jams of Maestro, Rebel Without a Pause made the... Kicking out the jams, artists come back, and they give me their 10 favorite songs of all time,

and we talk about, you know, why do you love the jam? And Rebel Without a Pause was in Maestro's top 10 yeah it's a tough it's a tough record tough record to perform tough record to to put on people and uh you know you you keep up with the energy of the records or you we have a saying either you do the records or they do you right so i can't be up there and not getting done by a record. All right. Let's talk about that. So tonight it's Public Enemy Radio. Yes.

How is Public Enemy Radio different from Public Enemy? Well, Public Enemy is the big horse. You know, it's a big juggernaut. It doesn't pretty much open up for anything. It's a big rollout. Public Enemy Radio is thej curation unit of public enemy and also hip-hop and rap music it represents rap station not rap station in the networks the 10 station channel now we give away on apps and we truly curate the music and my spit slam record

label group so on the artists on us on the label putting out albums tonight, it's like five representatives of people with album. Our Canadian artists on the label. So folk singer is anime. Oskin. She's from Hamilton and Daddy. Oh, Professor Daddy. Oh, for Stetsasonic. He's released his fifth album.

He's releasing his fifth album with us. DJ Lord has released three albums and three mixed mosh tapes. He's on the label. And Jahi, who's the MC, has released five albums with us. And me and my solo projects as well as Public Enemy songs. And it's just a great presentation. Okay, so what's the difference between Public Enemy Radio and PE 2.0? Well, PE 2.0 has recently moved on.

Jahi was actually representing PE 2.0 Project Experience Millennium, and that's what that meant. And he recorded four albums on the PE 2.0. So now, you know, we released the catalog in vinyl. It's a nice sounding and looking piece. the catalog and vinyl. It's a nice sounding and looking piece. And Jahi, who's brought along and being like the first recruit MC for Public Enemy, also can go into Public Enemy Radio

and also head up PE 2.0. Hopefully, the thought is that Flavor and the band can be a PE 2.0 and take that over. They got the MC, which is Jahi, so it just doesn't include me. Yeah. So about that, would Public Enemy proper, are they ever going to tour again? Right now we're looking at 2020,

if Flavor gets his stuff together. If he doesn't get his stuff together, it'll be a loss, but they will do Public Enemy Radio in 2020. But it's the 30th anniversary of Fear for Black Planet next year, so he's got to get some things together. And at the same time, getting things together just figuratively and literally.

I mean, he can't get into Canada. That's a problem, so we've got to fix that. So that's changed since the Sound Academy gig, I guess. How long ago was the Sound Academy gig? Six, I want to say six, seven years. I don't know what's up with these borders, because sometimes you can get in and sometimes you can't. Like tonight, I think Steel and Tech couldn't get in.

But you guys are used to that over here. I mean, you're used to not seeing the full kit and caboodle. Right. Yeah, I know. It's a pain in the ass, man. Absolutely. Government's sometimes getting in the way of culture, right? I'm just glad to hear that there's still a chance in 2020

that Public Enemy Proper is still a chance in 2020 that uh public enemy proper uh is still around and on that note i need to ask about terminator x because i i mean i'm a huge public enemy fan but public they told me he retired to be an ostrich farmer that was like that was 22 years ago dj lord has been no he's amazing dj Lord. So, I mean, right now, I mean, I do the radio show and he does the mixes with Rap Station. And there's always a place. So we're thinking about maybe there's a classic lineup that would go out and be doing limited things.

But, you know, I mean, those are the plans. But it's like, you know, having a team, you can't have two quarterbacks at the same time. That's very true, very true. So a team, you can't have two quarterbacks at the same time. That's very true. Very true. So how often do you get to the city? Like, have you been to the city since they legalized,

uh, cannabis use? No. Recreational cannabis use? No, because it doesn't mean anything to me. I don't smoke. I'm like,

I didn't know that, you know, but, well, you're going to have some secondhand smoke tonight, I think. Oh yeah. I mean, I'm on the stage. I'm smoke tonight, I think. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm on the stage.

Yeah, I mean, I see and smell it all, especially in places where it's legal. See, places where it's legal, when I saw places legalize weed, the first thing they did is cats would just go overboard, like taking puffs and then blowing it at the stage. Right, because they don't got to hide it no more. Yeah, exactly. They go overboard when it's like, okay, all right, we in a haze now. You know, my Prophets of Rage rhyming partner, he's the shaman of weed.

Does that be real? That is be real. Love that guy. I was going to ask you about Prophets of Rage. So you guys are still going to do stuff? Yeah, I got to get ready to go on a five-week tour next week. So this is the Public Enemy Radio gig before the tour of Prophets of Rage. You guys coming here?

We would like to, but I think that's also 2020. So it's something, you know, juggling two big groups, and then now the Public Enemy Radio has become something too. I like to be home a lot just sitting on my ass. You're a big Hoops fan, right? Yeah, I think so. Hey, what's up, champion?

I was going to ask you if you know the Knicks are having some issues. Dude, as y'all won championship, we won 17 games. I don't even haveall won championship, we won 17 games. I don't even have the right to speak or talk about it. But we have upward to look at. But did you find yourself rooting for the Raps?

Of course. Of course. And I got people who are fanatics in every city. So if I choose their particular team, I can say, hey, man, this city's always been good to me. But I felt, you know, if you follow ball, do you? Absolutely.

So obviously you was crushed last year versus LeBron when Valachunas seemed like he was right at the rim and it just went out. I don't understand that, but that had to be tough. That was really tough. There's been a tough few years because we hit the LeBron wall like the last three seasons. How would you guys like to win 17 games?

We've been there, man. 17 games? What year was that? We got Andrea Bargnani first overall. And then we took him from you. And you guys. And he just was destroyed. We were destroyed with him.

That guy was so frustrating when he was here, and then we unloaded him on the Knicks. Wait, wait, wait, wait. He used to. My dad was always. He was always quick to say, yeah, the guy. My dad couldn't pronounce his name, but he said, yeah, we got Bayani and whatever.

He destroyed the Knicks every time. Knicks get him. This is the story of the Knicks. Knicks get the person that destroys them, and then the person sucks when he's with the team. Chuck, I know. I'm not saying he sucks. I'm just like, when we had him, it was a disaster.

He was like a seven-foot guy who never wanted to play inside. I found him to be a frustrating player. He had one fantastic game that myself and my daughters went at the Garden and they were playing the Heat, Miami Heat, on national TV a couple years ago. He showed up for that game. Yo, yo, man. He showed up. He showed up and out.

He was just like killing the Heat. My brother Ryan, he plays fantasy basketball. And apparently, Bargnani. How old is he? What is he? He's now 43 years old. Oh, so does he have

a significant other that just says, get off of that game? But he would always defend Bargnani because apparently, Bargnani put up big stats for the fantasy league

or whatever. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. shut down the computer and watch the game. Like,

this guy's a shit show. Yeah, exactly. So the thing about Toronto Raptors,'s a shit show. Yeah, exactly. So the thing about Toronto Raptors. I'm not going to say, you know, I'm not going to be here to say any athlete sucks. So I'm never going to say that. Because, I mean, come on, man. That's their game, and I don't have the right to say so.

Yeah, but that was first overall pick. But anyway, I'm digressing here, except to say that when you're a Raptors fan, it's tough because the big-name free agents don't come here. Like, you can get a top-notch guy. You didn't get him, but you can get a Kevin Durant to say, I'm going a Raptors fan, it's tough because the big name free agents don't come here. Like you can get a top notch guy. You didn't get him, but you can get a Kevin Durant to say, I'm going to come be a Nick, right? This will happen.

Here, big name free agents don't choose to come here. So you got two options. You can draft and develop like Pascal Siakam, or you can get Masai Ujiri can be a smart, you can trade and get a guy like Kawhi Leonard for one year. And then you got that little creak of a window and then it all came together. That usually doesn't even work with teams. Your jury happened with him last year and that was

like, you know, he's the miracle worker. I don't see it happening with anybody else. We're going to get a guy for one year and we're going to make it. Most of the time people lose. So let me leave you just as we wrap up here. Let me just thank you for It Takes a Nation

of Millions to Hold It Back. Changed my life, man. You know that title was developed in this city. No, that's the kind of stuff I want. Tell me. Well, that's the kind

of stuff you got. It's Toronto Century, man. The original title of the album was Countdown to Armageddon. And that's the title of a track that's on there. It was not really a track.

It was an intro and I titled it and I was kind of messing around with that title all year of 87 and then I did the interview for Now Magazine I forgot the journalist and

I got the copy of Now and took it back home to Long Island and myself and Hank Shockley was looking at the piece, and it said, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, which actually, coincidentally, was a lyric from the first album, Yo Burmester Show. The song is Raise the Roof, and it's into the back area of the song, you know, like further than two or three minutes.

And we saw it printed out in Now Magazine. We was like, damn, wow, it looks kind of good. Long, but it looks kind of good. It worked, man. And that's when we made this decision. Thanks so much, Chuck. Toronto inspired. Thanks so much, Chuck.

This is Dream Come True. I appreciate it. And I'll follow you on Twitter, so I guess we'll follow each other. Yeah, I'll tweet the link at you when it publishes. But thanks so much for your time. Amazing. And that

brings us to the end of our 490 second show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Chuck is at Mr. Chuck D. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.

Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee. PalmaPasta is at PalmaPasta. FastTime Watch and Jewelry Repair is at FastTimeWJR. StickerU is at StickerU. And CapadiaLLP is that Capadilla LLP. See you all next week. Drink some goodness from a tin

Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the snow

won't stay the day And your smile is We'll be right back. Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years. It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears. And I don't know what the future can hold or will do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Well, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow

won't stay today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and gray Well I've been told That there's a sucker born every day

But I wonder who Yeah I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you?

All that picking up trash and then putting down ropes Have you forgotten that once we were brought here We were robbed of our name, robbed of our language. We lost our religion, our culture, our God. And many of us, by the way we act, we even lost our minds. Here it is. Bam. And you say, God damn, this is a dope jam. But let's define the term called dope.

And you're thinking me funky now. No, here is a true tale. Why the ones that deal are the ones that fail. Yeah. You can move if you want to move. What it prove? It's here like the groove. The problem is this.

We got to fix it. Check out the justice and how they run it. Selling, smelling, sniffing, riffing. And brothers trying to get swift in. Selling their own rubber home While some shrivelable Like comatose walking around Please don't confuse this with the sound

I'm talking about Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves!

Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! Faves! I put this together to the bells of those that boost the dose

of lack of lack and those that sell the black shame on the brother when they dealin' the same block where my 98 be wheelin' and everybody know another kilo from a corner for my brother keep another below and stop illin and killing, stop thrilling Yo, Black, yo, be a willing Four, five o'clock in the morning

Wait a minute, y'all The feeds are feeding day to day to day They say no other way This stuff is really bad, I'm talking about Waves, waves, waves Waves, waves, waves Waves, waves, waves Waves, waves, waves We're going to get on their faces. First come, first serve faces.

Standing in line, checking the time. Homeboys playing the curve, the same ones they used to do. Your hat, now they're gone. Passing it on, pointing the tack to Blackburn. We'll be right back. Yo, we strip the jeep to fill his pipe And wander around to find a place Where they rock to a different kind of Come on, y'all Hold it, now, wait Wait a minute Yo, run it, Black Sutton attached to the meal for kids that make cash

Selling drugs to the brother man instead of the other man Brother than sister I'm talking about Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape, Bape Bye.