Arts & Humanities Society & Culture

Influential musician and founder of rap group Public Enemy to speak at UGA

Athens, Ga – The University Union Student Programming Board at the University of Georgia will present “Rap, Race and Reality,” a lecture by musician, producer and political activist Chuck D, on Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tate Student Center Grand Hall. Chuck D is the award winning founder of the rap group Public Enemy.

Born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, Chuck D redefined rap music and hip hop culture with the release of Public Enemy’s debut album in 1987. “Yo Bum Rush the Show” was a musical articulation of the realities facing African Americans in the late twentieth century. Between 1987 and 2009, with Chuck D at the helm, Public Enemy has released 13 albums, toured 63 countries, and influenced hip hop communities, social justice struggles and political activism throughout the world.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine included Public Enemy as one of the “fifty most important performers in rock and roll history” and in 2007, Chuck D was named one of the “100 Most Influential Black Americans” by Ebony Magazine.

Chuck D has been featured and/or interviewed in more than 50 documentaries on music, technology, politics and race, and he has appeared in numerous public service announcements for national peace and for the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

For the past five years, he has hosted “On the Real/Off the Record” for Air America radio, on which some of today’s most important musical and political figures have been interviewed. Chuck D continues to make music and to write prolifically on technology, politics, rap music and race.

Tickets are free for students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus; and $5 for non-students. Tickets are available at the Tate Student Center Cashier Window, open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, call 706/542-6396 or see http://union.uga.edu.

The University Union Student Programming Board is a registered student organization within UGA’s Division of Student Affairs.