Did Flava Flav stump for Trump at SXSW?
"I'm not really the politician of the group," Flav told Billboard Public Enemy's performance at South by Southwest in Austin. "There's a lot of people talking a lot of shit about Trump, but guess what? He's winning. The man is winning. I ain't gonna lie, but listen, the United States has been ran a certain way for decades and decades. You never know: Maybe Trump could possibly do something. Maybe he might step in office and do something. I'm not going to doubt him."
The clock-wearing rapper's thoughts on Republican front-runner Donald Trump were in stark contrast to bandmate Chuck D's, who reportedly shouted “Black lives matter! F*ck Donald Trump,” at Public Enemy's concert Saturday,part of Samsung’s Galaxy Life Fest.
According to the publication, Public Enemy performed “Fight the Power,” “Terrordome” and “911 Is a Joke,” which the group played at SXSW in the early 1990s, when the festival was in its infancy. The legendary hip-hop group also performed the title track to their 2015 album recent song "Man Plans God Laughs."
“Life is its own political topic,” member Chuck D said to the publication. “If you’re paying attention to it, you’ll already have the answer to it, so political means just understanding what’s happening around you.”
Chuck D’s protests this year were not limited to Trump; he also protested the lack of diversity at the Oscars. He released a series of tweets about the importance of music education and played “Fight The Power” as he walked across the stage at the awards ceremony.
“The song is a call to making change eventually, not just applauding the thought,” Chuck D said at the time.
I dont wanna hear about Oscars being white. Oscar been white. We have need black communities to support our ARTS as much as we do sports IMO
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) February 29, 2016
The song FightThe Power is beyond me & the crew.The point of the song is a call to making change eventually not just applauding the thought — Chuck D (@MrChuckD) February 29, 2016
