The primary rapper in one of the most significant hip-hop groups in the genre's history, Chuck D founded the New York City-based Public Enemy in order to use hip-hop music as an outlet to disseminate his pro-Black revolutionary messages. Because of the millions of albums Public Enemy sold and the way the group changed the landscape of hip-hop and popular music during the late-1980s, Public Enemy's influence on popular music specifically, and American culture in general, is incalculable.

Chuck D (born Carlton Ridenhour August 1, 1960) formed Public Enemy in 1982 with fellow Long Island friends Hank Shocklee and Bill Stepheny, both of whom shared Chuck D's love of politics and hip-hop music. In 1985, a Public Enemy demo caught the attention Def Jam label co-founder Rick Rubin, and by 1986 Chuck D had revamped Public Enemy to include Bill Stepheny as their publicist, Hank Shocklee as a...