Public Enemy to perform Millions for hundreds in U.K. :: Music News :: Articles

There's a deep generational rift that splits wide open when the words "Flavor Flav" are mentioned in conversation.

On the one (younger, VH1-worshipping) side: Flavor Fla-"aaaaaay"-av, the lovable target of dozens of cheese-chasin' ladies on Flavor of Love seasons 1, 2 or the impending 3.

On the other (aged, album-listening) side: Flavor Flav, the clock-sporting Public Enemy co-founder who, according to fellow founder Chuck D, "created the hype man in hip-hop and rap music" for good or for ill.

The two Flavs will be one and the same this May, when he and the rest of Public Enemy—Chuck D, Professor Griff, DJ Lord, Brother Mike, James Bomb and Pop Diesel (groundbreaking original DJ Terminator X has retired from the stage)—head to the U.K. for three performances of their seminal 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

The trio of shows are part of the All Tomorrow's Parties nostalgia-inducing/killing Don't Look Back concert series, which has successfully hosted similar gigs in the U.S. (Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, GZA's Liquid Swords and Slint's Spiderland at last year's Pitchfork Music Festival) and Australia (Sonic Youth, Low's Things We Lost in the Fire).

Paste's 50th best living songwriters will be joined on all three nights by Dr. Octagon (Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt), Anti-Pop Consortium, and Edan + MC Dagha. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Feb. 8 (unless you're the epitome of impatient enemy—in which case, there's a pre-sale starting today at the official Public Enemy site). Stuck in the States without the dough to get overseas? Snag some Public Enemy action figures, drop the needle on your copy of Millions and voila: your own mini-Don't Look Back. Hey, it beats reality television!

Rebel with a raised fist:

May
23 - London, England @ Brixton Academy
26 - Manchester, England @ Manchester Academy
27 - Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC1