When hip-hop emanated from the Bronx 50 years ago, initiating a genre of music that would influence Black culture in myriad ways, Chuck D was 13 and not at all interested in becoming one of the rap game’s most important voices.

“Who the hell wants to be a star?” was his mindset back then, he said.

But the pull and fascination of hip-hop grabbed a hold of him as it has countless artists and fans alike, and he put aside his ambition of being a journalist. In 1985, he helped form and lead Public Enemy, the iconic rap group that released 15 studio albums, two live ones and many more compilations and other records, almost every one of them anchored in Black empowerment messages on civil rights, social justice and historical references.

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