COINTELPRO Lives!

How do you destroy the legacy of one of the most important Hip-Hop groups of all time?
Get one of their more “marketable” and easily exploited members (John Lydon would know about this), get them high and shove them in front of a camera as that person’s antics reverses and contradicts everything that that group stood for, and alas, you have Flavor of Love, the new VH1 “Celebreality” series.

The very first time I saw Public Enemy was on Soul Train. Their performance left me mesmerized. I saw for the first time, that live rap can be just as intense as live punk or metal thanks to Chuck D’s style and yes, Flavor Flav’s stage role as hype man.
They had performed Rebel Without a Pause and Don Corneleius looked like he was about to shit himself because he had to be in close physical proximity to interview them.

After It takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back dropped, the group became Hip-Hop history and it seemed that in the face of being dropped by record labels, dependamce on Internet sales, and even Prof. Griff coming back to them, PE’s legacy would remain untouched. That was until Surreal Life and Strange Love starring Flavor Flav got on the air. At first I ignored both shows because I knew it was a given; Flavor Flav was always the more recognizable and “masses friendly” member of PE. But he was always mmore of a tool for the group to reach the black masses. Put an easily recognible character on the stage while you drop science and you may reach the people. It worked. Sort of. Actually oit seems to have blown up in PE’s collective face. I remember how the Flavor solos would get more radio play, how he would get cameo roles on TV. A Frankenstein monster was born and was out of the control of its creators. When record labels and rap media outlets began to unconsciously conspire to bury conscious Hip-Hop, financial troubles loomed for Flavor and the group as a whole. But with Flavor it was known that he was on drugs and rumors of him being a crack head particularly began to float around.

From the mid to late 90’s PE reorganized and reinvented themselves. But what about Flavor? Well, we see the end result, don’t we? Really, if VH1 wanted a clown or comedic Hip-Hop persona to be in their stupid shows, then why not Biz Markie or MC Shan? I think it’s because it is the ultimate diss to use Flavor, a member of a Hip-Hop group that believed in social change and made a video about killing a governor that MTV was forced to at least play it once (so as to not appear to be the un-hip censors they really are).
Yes, using Flavor is their big “fuck-you” to rapper who dares to extend their art to the socio-political arenas.

My man Paris, who produced PE’s latest album, said, “While Flavor Flav is a grown man and responsible for his own actions, it's worthy to note that VH1 (and its sister station, MTV) have a history of not supporting message-oriented music, even though they openly embrace corporate-chosen artists who damage our communities with negative images and messages. The "Strange Love" show is little more than an attempt to indirectly discredit the one group most relevant to the Black Experience in hip-hop.”

At press time, Flavor Flav and his manager didn’t respond to inquiries by AllHipHop.com.

As for Flavor of Love, it is just sad. Such was my initial reaction to BangBus.com where I couldn’t tell if the shit really was scripted or real. The women who participate in this game are either told to act as if they truly love Flavor or the most saddest, collection of low self-esteemed having failed actresses and models in the world and this is their only last shot to fame. Either way, the shit is outrageous. After watching Boondock’s Guess Ho’s Coming to Dinner (not their best episode) I have to say that watching Flavor of Love after it was like washing down a bad dinner with gasoline.