In the Hour of Chaos

Chuck D is the Grammy-winning leader of the hip hop group Public Enemy. A rapper, lyricist, producer, visual artist, and author, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2022, he was the UCLA Hip Hop Initiative’s Inaugural Artist-in-Residence and currently serves on its National Advisory Board.

"[Chuck D is] neither snootily professorial nor just an OG unspooling war stories. Rather, he’s a thoughtful interlocutor . . . .  a valuable chronicle of the genre’s role in troubled times—and how the times have always been troubled. Smart and chatty hip-hop history."

• ContentsIllustration inserts are placed after page 148.PrefaceIntroduction: Living in the Hour of ChaosChuck D1. Fear of a Black Planet: Black Geography, (Im)migration, and SoundChuck D, H. Samy Alim, and Robin D. G. Kelley2. Welcome to the Terrordome: History, Context, and the (R)evolution of Hip HopChuck D and Jeff Chang3. Don’t Believe the Hype: Technology, Media, and the Importance of CommunityChuck D and Davey D4. Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need: Hip Hop and FunkChuck D and Scot Brown5. Revolutionary Generation: Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Hip HopChuck D and Cheryl L. Keyes6. World Tour Sessions: Global Hip Hop CultureChuck D, Samuel Lamontagne, Mikko Kapanen, Amkelwa Mbekeni, and H. Samy Alim7. Prophets of Rage: Hip Hop and the Futures of Black RadicalismChuck D and Gaye Theresa Johnson8. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop, Justice, and the Prison Industrial ComplexChuck D, Bryonn Bain, and Maya Jupiter9. Harder Than You Think: The Poetics of Hip HopChuck D and Adam Bradley10. Show ’Em Whatcha Got: Hip Hop and the Visual ArtsChuck D and Joan MorganBibliographyIndexPraise for Chuck D