[rohrpost] Eng. Interview mit Chuck D / Public Enemy und deren digitalen Zukunfstplaene: "New (digital) services for the genre instead of ourselves" (Chuck D)

[Michael Gumnor]

i am in fear with the black planet but there's still hope that this will 
be done soon :-)



jan hendrik brueggemeier schrieb:

>Liebe Liste,
>
>"New (digital) services for the genre instead of ourselves" (Chuck D)
>
>Eine Audiofassung dieses Interviews mit Chuck D kann (ua.) in Baelde
>gehoert werden auf www.reboot.fm.
>
>Ich hoffe die Weiterleitung dieser ansonsten in Englisch gehaltenen Email
>stoesst auf wohlwollende Grossmuetigkeit.
>
>In diesem Sinne und alles Beste und ein frohes neues von der Sommerseite
>dieses Planeten!
>
>
>A little note from the editor:
>I contacted Chuck directly bypassing the Australian tour management and
>appreciate Chuck's determination to squeeze me into PEs extremely busy
>touring schedule to make this interview happen.
>
>A short list of web links referred to in the interview:
>www.publicenemy.com ; Chucks digital record label: www.slamjamz.com ; the
>fan funded music production platform: www.Sellaband.com ; social website
>for classic Rap and HipHop: www.HipHopGods.com ; social website for female
>Rap and HipHop artists: www.SHEmovement.com and the to-be music
>aggregation system: www.SpitDigital.com among others
>
>A .pdf file can be found here:
>http://neture.org/download/PE/PE_Chuck-D_Interview_2011.pdf
>
>A .txt file can be found here:
>http://neture.org/download/PE/PE_Chuck-D_Interview_2011.txt
>
>
>///
>
>
>Interview with Chuck D from Public Enemy
>- on the occasion of Public Enemies Australian Fear of the Black Planet -
>Tour 2010 / 11
>
>questions: Jan Hendrik Brueggemeier (jan at neture dot org)
>
>
>Chuck D: My Name is Chuck D from Public Enemy No I. What's up, Jan?
>
>JHB: Let's talk about the future, but before we get there. I assume that
>you are enjoying the Australian summer on your tour here.
>
>Chuck D: Of course, I am enjoying the Australian summer. It is actually an
>extension of the summer that we had coming from South Africa.
>
>JHB: Yes, you were touring South Africa, so how was that?
>
>Chuck D: It was wonderful. It was our first time there. And we have been
>asked to come there for 23 years even back in apartheid days when our
>music was banned. So it has been a very rewarding experience to be able to
>go to South Africa and playing in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and most of all
>Soweto and building with the people and doing a special performance there.
>
>JHB: How have you perceived the situation there. And how does it feel in
>comparison to the United States?
>
>Chuck D: Well, it seems that the people there are really trying to grow
>with a new identity of themselves, but you have to be careful what you
>loose in the transition. They come from people that struggled. They call
>people born-free instead, who were born after 1992. People that might not
>be connected to the struggle of the apartheid and the struggle from the
>fight of the past. So that's a whole different world. They are trying to
>have the older tell the younger how to go about with the new South Africa.
>So it was good going there in 2010 and feeling the people out.
>
>JHB: In terms with the Public Enemy agenda being politically and
>culturally independent do you feel it is more rewarding to look at the
>South like South America or Africa than actually look around in the U.S.
>or Europe?
>
>Chuck D: Yes, it is rewarding, because you see a lot of different
>governmental structures do things to people good and bad that you can
>learn from and take back to your own people to give them perspective of
>what they think what's good or bad and tell them, well, that's going on in
>the rest of the world. So you are not the first or you are the first in
>some cases. They also can look at the South of the U.S. at a particular
>time. Ever since the 1970s you have to look at other places and struggles.
>
>JHB: Talking about independent distribution, independent infrastructure.
>Let's talk about the Internet. There is stuff going on. In particular you
>are behind or driving certain initiatives and maybe you could tell a
>little bit about that.
>
>Chuck D: Well, we started www.publicenemy.com in 1998. I wanted to be able
>to reach to people directly and no longer with my record company to
>deliver videos and the music to the record company. We wanted to go
>directly to our people and that's why we built www.publicenemy.com for a
>direct voice.
>
>JHB: You said in 1999 Public Enemy turned independent. What do you exactly
>mean with that?
>
>Chuck D: Meaning that you don't have a mayor sponsor that come along and
>make you part of the machine, buy your way into TV and all that. We had to
>independently find our way to get our music and videos and stuff out
>there. And then we left DefJam in 1999 and released the first HipHop mp3
>album "There's a Poison Goin' On" on Atomic Pop (now defunct). And then I
>started SlamJamz, my digital record label, in 2001 and www.rapstation.com
>in 2000. So our whole thing was the delivery over the Internet as being
>our freedom.
>
>JHB: Where does it lead to? Is e.g. www.Sellaband.com one consequence of
>turning independent?
>
>Chuck D: Right. The beautiful thing about Sellaband is that it can show
>that people in your audience can actually become investors of something.
>
>JHB: The act is proposing to produce an album and then is waiting for the
>investment through its fans ...
>
>Chuck D: ... to the creation of it, yes. And I think this almost like
>having stock into something. So if we put together this album it is almost
>an album that is put together by its collaborators. It will be inviting a
>lot of different artists and producers from different areas to put
>together what they would feel be beneficial to be put together as a Public
>Enemy record. We are really looking forward to that.
>
>JHB: You were record breaking for the Sellaband platform, because you
>scored 75.000 US$.
>
>Chuck D: Yeah, but I don't think that's thing to hold our hat on. I think
>what we want to do is to show that method works and then we gotta still
>complete the whole process. It is a long road to finish off. ...
>
>JHB: This is just the beginning ...
>
>Chuck D: It really is. (laughs)
>
>JHB: Turning independent is always related to a business model. How does
>Public Enemy operate?
>
>Chuck D: Well, a business model is just as an independent to be able to
>understand that you get quality out of each item that you deal with and
>not thinking that you have to get something in mass numbers. So if you got
>people that understand about making something from the beginning and
>carefully making it and not going into this thing that you think you guys
>spent a lot of money making it, that's something that we think is a good
>thing.
>
>JHB: Part of the business as a musician includes then the digital
>promotion but there is still touring, live performances, merchandising,
>etc ...
>
>Chuck D: All you want is show artists that they can do it. We always have
>been able to do it. We want to show artists that they can do it. It is a
>lot of effort to do that, man.
>
>JHB: You were involved in the discussion of digital copyright violation.
>What is your take on it?
>
>Chuck D: I believe that file sharing is a great way to get the music and
>the culture across. Look what is happening now, you got people who do
>their own little internet radio shows and something is got to get the
>music around. So I think file sharing is a great way. So if someone is a
>fan of something they really got to be fan of something. It is like one of
>these days where the artist is communicating and the music is
>communicating to the artist. So it is interactive. I think this
>interactive thing has never happened before. That's the beautiful thing we
>need to take home.
>
>JHB: The music and the artist is interacting ...
>
>Chuck D: The music, the artist and the fan are all interacting together.
>So like I am just checking some music that is going out there that we have
>done and some opinions. Everything is just interactivity
>
>JHB: So it is more about exchange ...
>
>Chuck D: ... cultural exchange.
>
>JHB: ... cultural exchange and joining in the conversation.
>
>Chuck D: Yep.
>
>JHB: But it is also quite a commercial world and a lot of social websites
>feel a bit dodgy because of some people involved in them and corporations.
>
>Chuck D: I know, it is a corporate world, but we are still independently.
>Like when we built www.HipHopGods.com or www.SheMovement.com these are
>small social niches. So we capitalize on this, this very important.
>
>JHB: What is the idea behind HipHopGods.com?
>
>Chuck D: Classic artist have to have a place to go in HipHop and Rap. They
>can't go to normal radio or TV stations. We have to have our own thing. So
>thats very important.
>
>JHB: You are addressing in particular artists who are in business for more
>than 15 years.
>
>Chuck D: Yes, if they make a song, they are always in the studio. We want
>to encourage them to make videos and to stay making music. A lot of them
>feel like 'Ok, I am making my music but where can I put it'. And that's
>www.HipHopGods.com.
>
>JHB: And the SheMovement.com?
>
>Chuck D: For women. Women and HipHop, to have a place to be seen and
>promote their music.
>
>JHB: Do you see this as an extension of your label like SlamJamz?
>
>Chuck D: Yes, I do. Although HipHopGods or SheMovement won't have anything
>on my label per se but SpitDigital is a aggregation system that we are
>setting up, where we gonna allow people to start their own labels on the
>digital chip and then be able to go to tune chord and than to iTunes or
>Amazon and digital stores. So that's the next revolution to make sure that
>artists have the tools for their own digital label.
>
>JHB: As we all grow older while staying more active while growing older
>where do see the future of Public Enemy going beyond any 3-5 year plans,
>what is the big picture you are imagining?
>
>Chuck D: The big picture is making rapstation.com work as a directory for
>all Rap and HipHop shows. The big picture is making HipHopGods.com work
>for artists who are established and know that they've got a home. The big
>picture is making SheMovement.com work and the big picture is
>www.SpitDigital.com. All those four are making new services for the genre
>instead of ourselves.
>
>
>  
>