The story of Black Benjie and the Ghetto Brothers is “a prequel to hip-hop,” explains Chuck D — best known as the frontman of Public Enemy, the rebels without a pause who brought fiery social commentary to hip-hop’s golden era.

His latest project, as the narrator and executive producer of PB&J Productions’ podcast Can You Dig It?, fills in the details of an essential missing chapter in hip-hop culture’s evolution. Set in the South Bronx in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the audio docu-series traces the story of how a street gang became a cultural organization, reforming the community and paving the way for what followed in the process.

“Black Benjie and the whole scene right in the Bronx before the birth of hip-hop, really sparking the birth of hip-hop, seemed as important as any other story about hip-hop 50 that we heard this year,” Chuck says.

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