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Founder Chuck D and four other members of the
influential rap group had issued a statement in March saying
they had split with Flav after he missed several live
performances. Flav, writing on Twitter at the time, suggested he
was fired because he refused to appear with the group at a rally
for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, April Fool's Day, Chuck D
said he and Flav concocted a fake split to grab attention and
highlight media bias toward reporting bad news about hip hop.
The pair were inspired by the 1938 radio broadcast of "War of
the Worlds," which had confused listeners into believing the
fictional story about an alien invasion was a news bulletin,
Chuck D said.
"Thus came the HOAX, our 'War Of The Worlds.' Believe half of
what you hear and NONE of what you see," Chuck D said in the
statement, which was released by the band's publicity team.
Chuck D posted a similar statement on the website for Enemy
Radio, an offshoot of Public Enemy, and discussed the plot on a
podcast interview that was released late on Tuesday.
Flav, known for wearing a giant clock around his neck, and Chuck
D were founding members in 1985 of New York-based rappers Public
Enemy, known for making music with a strong political message.
Their 1988 album "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"
is considered one of the genre’s most influential.
The group has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
and received a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
On Wednesday, Flav and Chuck D united on a single released by
Enemy Radio called "Food as a Machine Gun," described as "an
attack on the food industrial machine." The song is featured on
Enemy Radio's new album, "Loud is Not Enough."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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