Chuck D of Public Enemy visits CSU Monterey Bay Feb. 7

Chuck D of Public Enemy

Public Enemy frontman Chuck D will speak on "Rap, Race, Reality and Digital Music" Feb. 7 at CSU Monterey Bay to help celebrate Black History Month.

The event takes place at 7 p.m. in the University Center on Sixth Avenue. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. 

Chuck D founded the influential hip-hop group Public Enemy. With albums like "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and "Fear of a Black Planet," the group helped define politically edged music in the early 1990s. Artists ranging from Rage Against the Machine to Ben Harper to M.I.A. In 2009, VH1 named their single "Fight The Power" the number one hip-hop song of all-time. 

Chuck D has been a staunch supporter of digital media and file sharing since the late '90s. 

Read the full press release after the jump.

Rapper Chuck D visits CSUMB

Feb. 7 talk part of Black History Month celebration

Chuck D, one of the founders of the legendary rap group Public Enemy, will speak at CSU Monterey Bay on Feb. 7 as part of the university’s Black History Month celebration.

His topic: rap, race, reality and digital music. The 7 p.m. event will be held in the University Center on Sixth Avenue. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door.

Chuck D is the author of two critically acclaimed books, a political activist, publisher, radio host and producer.

He helped to redefine rap music and hip-hop culture with the release of Public Enemy’s debut album in 1987. Yo! Bum Rush The Showpowerfully articulated the realities facing black people in the late 20^th century.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine included Chuck D and Public Enemy as one of the "50 most important performers in rock & roll history." In 2007, Ebony Magazine named him one of the “100 Most Influential Black Americans.”

He has been featured and/or interviewed in over 50 documentaries on music, technology, politics, and race and he has appeared in numerous public service announcements for the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

He has been a national spokesperson for Rock the Vote, the National Urban League, Americans for the Arts Council and the National Alliance for African-American Athletes. In 2006, he hosted ESPN’s Ali Raps, about the poetry and politics of Muhammad Ali.

Driving directions and a campus map are available at csumb.edu.

The event is co-sponsored by the Associated Students and the Otter Student Union. For information, call Tim Bills at 582-4645.