Chuck D

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the late 1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.



Ridenhour was born in Roosevelt, Long Island. After graduating from Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, he went to Adelphi University in Long Island to study Graphic Design.


Upon hearing Ridenhour's demo track "Public Enemy Number One", fledgling producer/mogul Rick Rubin insisted on signing him to his Def Jam label.

Chronologically, their major label albums were: Yo! Bum Rush the Show, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet, Apocalypse 91.The Enemy Strikes Black, Greatest Misses, and Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age. They also released a full length album soundtrack for the film He Got Game in 1998. Ridenhour also contributed to several episodes of the PBS documentary series The Blues. He has appeared as a feature artist on many other songs and albums, having collaborated with artists such as Janet Jackson, Kool Moe Dee, The Dope Poet Society, Run-DMC, Ice Cube and many others. In 1990, he appeared on "Kool Thing", a song by the alternative rock band Sonic Youth. In 1993, he executive produced Got 'Em Running Scared, an album by Ichiban Records group "Chief Groovy Loo and the Chosen Tribe".


In 1996, Ridenhour released Autobiography Of Mistachuck on Mercury Records. In November 1998, he settled out of court with Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G" Wallace's estate over the latter's sampling of his voice in the song "Ten Crack Commandments". The specific sampling is Ridenhour counting off the numbers one to nine on the track "Shut Em Down".

In September 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the web site Rapstation.com. A home for the vast global hip hop community, the site boasts a TV and radio station with original programming, many of hip hop's most prominent DJs, celebrity interviews, free MP3 downloads, downloadable ringtones by ToneThis, social commentary, current events, and regular features on turning rap careers into a viable living. Since 2000, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of Internet music file sharing in the music industry.

(read more @ wikipedia.org)