4 days ago
Why Flavor Flav Says the US Must Ban Firearms Now
"Right, left, left, right, left." We are marching ourselves into madness, both in the crazy and angry senses of the word. We are caught in an epidemic of gun violence with no sign we can stop or change course.
That's why Chuck D and I created a new Public Enemy song, "March Madness," a term usually reserved for basketball. To us, March Madness is not about the left or the right or politics—it's about the need to unify, as human beings, to say what is right and what is wrong. Stop putting a price tag on the heads of our children.
Chuck D and Flava Flav pose for a portrait at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony streaming on Disney+ at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 19, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Chuck D and Flava Flav pose for a portrait at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony streaming on Disney+ at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 19, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sara Jaye/Getty for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
This track starts off with a 911 call report about a teacher calling in a school shooting and begging for help.
I fear for my kids when I drop them off at school. Our schools aren't safe and our kids aren't safe. This is because gun protection laws are weak. Guns are falling into the hands of the wrong people. I would know. I went to jail because of guns. I ended up on Rikers Island. So I am speaking from first-hand experience.
Back in the day, guns and drugs were brought into Black communities. It was a time when we were taught that guns and drugs equaled power. We all had guns. There was peer pressure; a gun felt like a necessity to protect yourself from gang wars. This helped create a system of criminals who were forced into legalized slavery.
If one part of society has guns, then more people feel the need for guns to protect themselves. And then more people. But no civilian needs to possess semi-automatic weapons.
Fear and power are two of the biggest emotions that drive us. America is being built on fear. You have people who are scared. And these people are fighting for gun rights to protect themselves. They wouldn't have to protect themselves if all guns were banned. Fear is a powerful, short-term motivator. We need to flip it so it can break through to be a positive and valuable resource. Let our fear of losing our children be more powerful than our fear of our next-door neighbor.
Right now, it's too easy for kids to grab their parents' guns. They are motivated by fear of being disliked, fear of not being accepted, fear of being made fun of. It makes them feel powerless. Some choose to take their power back and show up those peers. This happens so often, we have started to become numb to it as a society. It's barely in the news if it's less than a handful of people who were killed, and then the news cycle moves onto something else... The hits just keep on coming...
School shootings are normalized. The lack of gun laws has created a violence epidemic here in the United States that is nowhere else in the world. This is domestic errorism.
I've grown up. I had to take responsibility for myself, my actions and my career. I got sober. And I see the world with more clarity. I got a whole new team. No more guns for Flav. The only thing I'm carrying now is the conversation.
My new manager, on day one, set up a meeting with Sam Hollander, a producer and songwriter with numerous chart-topping hits. They had me do something I've never done before. If we want Public Enemy and Flavor Flav to appeal to a broader audience, we need to invite them into the conversation. We need to understand their perspective.
Now, my manager used to represent former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders and he has this extremely talented and musical son, Nigel Sanjai Sanders, who was a student at Howard University. We asked him to make us some music and he delivered.
My manager graduated from Harvard University and, using her resources, she, Sam, Nigel and I went to Harvard and met with their students and Dee-1, a brilliant rapper who served as a Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellow at Harvard's Hiphop Archive & Research Institute. Then we all went to the neighboring Berklee College of Music to write and record with some of their students.
Public Enemy: March Madness Cover Artwork.
Public Enemy: March Madness Cover Artwork.
Courtesy of Alto Global Media
I was in that room, with all these students, just sitting back and being quiet. If y'all know Flav, that's not like me. But to listen to them, their ideas, opinions and reasons behind them, you had to sit back and stay quiet. Now, take the students' intelligence and point of view, plus the experience of growing up on the streets and Public Enemy, and that equals something powerful.
Our friend, the artist Shepard Fairey, inspired an entire population with just one word: hope. That is what I saw in these students.
I hope this song, "March Madness," reignites the conversation. I hope this song sparks change. I hope this anthem gives a voice to those who feel powerless against a system of power and greed. I hope we can come together to create a wall of unity with peace and togetherness that is so strong, no one can divide and tear us down.
As my partner, Chuck D, says: "I would rather live in peace than rest in peace." I hope the same for my children and all children.
Flavor Flav is a rapper who cofounded hip-hop group Public Enemy with Chuck D over 40 years ago. Their new single, "March Madness," is out now.
