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Public Enemy’s Chuck D Says Flavor Flav’s Firing Was Just a Prank

Which one’s Mike and which one’s Ike? Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Look, look, look: There’s a camera. And there’s a camera. And there’s a camera right there. You’re on a prank show! If you don’t remember signing up, it’s because you didn’t. Chuck D and Flavor Flav took it upon themselves to pull a little hoax on the public by pretending to split up in order to promote Enemy Radio’s latest project, Loud Is Not Enough. With its release perfectly timed to April Fools’ Day, the jig is apparently up. Chuck D explained their master plan in a pre-recorded interview on Uproxx’s podcast People’s Party. “We already talked about this beforehand,” he explained. “Public Enemy Radio went up [at a Bernie Sanders rally]. His lawyer sent out a cease and desist. I’m like, ‘Good move.’ Then, publicly: ‘Man, you don’t fuckin’ sue me again.’ He ain’t suin’ me. But I can say it!”

The Twitter back-and-forth and the fight’s escalation — Chuck D firing Flavor Flav from Public Enemy — was all part of the plan. (“You can’t fire partners,” the rapper clarifies.) He and Flav had been both working on the Enemy Radio release since the end of February and collaborate on the single “Food As a Machine Gun.” “I’m not sayin’ it’s a hoax, I’m sayin’ that the original intention is to get your attention and not play attention, but get you to pay attention,” he said on the podcast, later adding “We takin’ April Fools’. We takin’ it over. It’s April Flav Chuck Day.” Frankly, for scamming the music world with the same promotional feud as Mike & Ikes, they can have April Fools’ Day. Thought it was canceled this year anyway.

Public Enemy’s Chuck D Says Flavor Flav Split Was a Prank