I'm Glad Public Enemy And Pearl Jam Exist

\ Aug 16, 2007

1 min read

You might not like Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder’s peculiar, oft-copied vocal stylings. But you gotta be glad there’s a band out there ready to take on AT&T for muting politically charged lyrics from a Live Lollapalooza webcast. (Read "politically charged" as "anti-Bush"). So what did Pearl Jam do? The band used it as a building block in the case for net neutrality.

And that Chuck D., he is one smart man. I’m listening to the really badass new Public Enemy disc (reviewed by me in the next Alibi ) as I type this, and I’m in awe of this hip-hop giant, still in it after 20 years. As our music editor pointed out, the potential for great suck was there. But he’s as well-versed and political as ever, hiding nothing in layers of metaphor and poetry but speaking straight about important things. Flav is all right, too. Chuck D. calls him the most brilliant hype man in history in one interview. He’s right. Flav probably laughed all the way to the bank after his nasty and hypnotic reality TV shows on VH1.

It’s a good day. Put the politics back in pop, I say.