One one hand, it was kind of nice of Lyor Cohen, a big wig at Warner Brothers Records, to give props to Public Enemy in a recent profile in The New York Times Magazine. Especially considering the fact that Chuck D. has slammed the dude with the "Garbage Pail Kids" type nickname "Liar Cohen," I guess due to the way Cohen treated Public Enemy in their last years at Def Jam Records. I've read interviews with Chuck where he actually refers to him as "Liar Cohen." On the other hand, the props came in the form of Cohen listing P.E. as his favorite "defunct" act, saying that they are "what's missing in the business right now. We need Chuck D and Flavor Flav and the S1Ws. We desperately need a group that's willing to tackle thorny subjects."
So, (A): Hey, Lyor, check out their most recent album, How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? from 2007. It blows away nearly every hip-hop record of the past decade... even ones that sold more copies! Remember, homie, it's not about a salary, it's all about reality. Younger hip-hop artists (and the people who make money off of them) like to write them off as being "out of touch" but that just lets everyone else off the hook.
And (B): Hey, Lyor, you can maybe help change the situation and sign artists who are "willing to tackle the thorny subjects." Well, I guess you have Jay-Z, and the topic of how rich he is can be pretty thorny! I'm not very familiar with the recordings of Trey Songz and Michael Buble, but I imagine them tackling thorny subjects pretty regularly.
The picture above is from this week: Chuck and Flav performed backed by The Roots and members of Street Sweeper Social Club at this year's VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, celebrating Def Jam Records' legacy.
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