Chuck D

American rapper and co-founder of Public Enemy whose delivery, rhetoric, and political consciousness defined the golden age of political hip-hop — and who called hip-hop 'the CNN of black America' — establishing the template for the conscious rapper.

Created the politically conscious rapper as an archetype — the artist who uses music as a vehicle for social commentary rather than just entertainment — and whose booming baritone delivery and rhetorical precision made Public Enemy's political message aesthetically powerful as well as ideologically serious.