Chuck D Partners With MLB As Music Ambassador & Content Generator For Yearlong 50th Anniversary Of Hip-Hop Celebration

Credit: Eitan Miskevich

Chuck D is working with MLB as a music ambassador and content originator to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. The Public Enemy co-founder and frontman will be MLB’s special correspondent at the Hip Hop 50 Live At Yankee Stadium concert on Friday. He is collaborating with MLB throughout the year to create content, stories and music. The programming includes MLB’s social, MLB Network and videos centered on the relationship between hip-hop and baseball. Chuck D expressed his gratitude for the partnership in a press release. “As a longtime baseball fanatic, I am beyond honored to be the first Hip Hop artist to work with Major League Baseball in this exciting new way – connecting sound and culture to the stories of the game. Thank you to MLB for adding me to the lineup…and the pitch is on the way.” MLB launches its yearlong partnership with Mass Appeal’s Hip Hop 50 this Friday, August 11 with Hip Hop 50 Live At Yankee Stadium. The location is an acknowledgment of hip-hop’s beginnings in the Bronx. Chuck D’s coverage of the event will be for all of MLB’s platforms including @MLB, @MLBLife social handles, MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB Network. MLB will also have merchandise and giveaways through 2024. Earlier this year Chuck D was the executive producer and developer of Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World. The four-part series aired on PBS. 

 

Hip Hop 50



The Grammys Celebrate 50 Years Of Hip-Hop

Sunday night The Grammys celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a lineup of some of the most prominent rappers of the genre. Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Run DMC, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, Mr. Scarface, Busta Rhymes, Too Short, Ice-T, Method Man, Lil Baby, GloRilla, LL Cool J and Public Enemy performed the compact tribute on the stage outfitted like 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx where DJ Kool Herc hosted the earliest hip-hop parties. Black Thought narrated the segment while The Roots provided the music. Questlove curated the evening and he, unfortunately, had to remove many artists because of time constraints. 




Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed The World Premieres Tonight On PBS

https://youtu.be/r7e_EwTHN00

Watch: Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed The World tonight on PBS at 9 PM ET. Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy talks about the Black struggle during the ’60s helped give birth to hip-hop. 




Chuck D’s Book Of Fine Art Coming Out In The Fall

Chuck D will see the publication of his first art book this coming fall. Livin Loud is a body of work influenced by his politics and musical influences. The pieces will be accompanied by Chuck D’s commentary informed by his time growing up in the ’60s during the Civil Rights movement. Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello wrote the foreword for the book that has over 250 works. The book brings Chuck D’s career full circle as he was a graphic artist before he co-founded the rap group Public Enemy. He explained this move in a press statement:

“I was already expressing my political viewpoint through my art and graphics, so the bridge into music was a natural next step. First, I expressed myself with my head and my hands, and then later with my voice.”

Genesis Publications will release Livin Loud on November 29th as a hardcover and there will be 1,200 signed copies bound in cloth with gold foil in a clamshell box. A second volume is included and has a reproduction of Chuck’s sketchbook. The deluxe edition has numbered prints of Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys and Run DMC. The Collector’s edition has the same features except for a numbered print of Public Enemy. To order the book check out ChuckDbook.com