I suppose in these extreme times you have to go to extreme lengths to garner any sort of attention, and that’s exactly what Public Enemy did. In early March the feud between Flavor Flav and Chuck D reached it’s climax when Public Enemy announced that they would be booting Flavor Flav from the group.
To recap, Flav was “fired” after he served Chuck D. a cease and desist over the group’s appearance at a Bernie Sanders campaign rally. The two engaged in a series of catty public spats which saw Chuck D question Flav’s sobriety, and Flav question Chuck D’s mental welfare.
As it turns out the whole thing was just an elaborate ruse to promote Public Enemy Radio’s new record, Loud Is Not Enough, which is out right now.
In an interview with Uproxx podcast People’s Party, Chuck D elaborated on the scheme
“We already talked about this beforehand. Public Enemy Radio went up [at the Sanders rally]. His lawyer sent out a cease and desist,” he explained.
“I’m like, ‘Good move.’ Then, publicly: ‘Man, you don’t fuckin’ sue me again.’ He ain’t suin’ me. But I can say it! If the public is confused about this, that, whatever—they’re gonna be confused about what’s a lawsuit and what’s not. ‘Yo man you suing me again publicly? Boom. Fuck that. You’re fired dude. This is my last thing with you.’ OK. We knew what was gonna come. I’m not sayin’ it’s a hoax, I’m sayin’ that the original intention is to get your attention and not play attention, but get you to pay attention.”
When asked about Flav’s current position in the group, Chuck revealed that Flav “can’t” be fired from Public Enemy.
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“He can’t, he’s a partner. You can’t fire partners. You just walk away from ’em.” Chuck said that he and Flav had been working on a new Public Enemy Radio album since the end of February. “There’s a select few that do know—that I had to let know—that me and Flav have been better than ever.”
“We takin’ April Fools,” he continued. “We takin’ it over. It’s April Flav Chuck Day.”
