NEW YORK—April 13, 2023—”Librarians, museum curators of culture, and booksellers are a beacon of light in this era of mass nihilism,” says Public Enemy superstar, author and now publisher Chuck D. “We all need to spend more time with them, which is why I’m coming to the U.S. Book Show to talk about graphic novels and naphic grovels and my new Enemy Books imprint with Akashic—and why art and books matter now more than ever. People today listen with their eyes.”
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chuck D will give the lunchtime keynote at the U.S. Book Show during the comics and graphic novels program on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. He will discuss the state of the art and his own art with The New Yorker staff writer and former New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh. Stewdio: The Naphic Grovel Artrilogy of Chuck D (Enemy Books, June) by the multitalented artist, social activist and rapper is the new imprint’s inaugural offering, a paperback trilogy to be issued in a limited edition boxed set and featuring Chuck D’s visual art.
Chuck D is a force to be reckoned with, and Enemy Books, his new imprint hosted by Akashic Books, is bound to be just that, according to Akashic Books founder and publisher Johnny Temple.
Chuck D is the author of the illustrated art book Livin’ Loud (Genesis Publications, 2023), Chuck D Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2017) and Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality with Yusuf Jah (Random House, 1998), among others. He also wrote and narrated the 2023 PBS four-part documentary series Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World.
An unequaled lyricist and multi-platinum recording artist, Chuck D is the cofounder, with Flavor Flav, of Public Enemy, which blew open the hip-hop world in 1987 and since then has released 15 studio albums. The author of the anthemic “Fight the Power,” which Spike Lee requested for Do the Right Thing, Chuck D was also a member of the rap rock group Prophets of Rage and played on dozens of albums outside the orbit of Public Enemy and Prophets of Rage. Six solo studio and compilation albums included the highly regarded Autobiography of Mistachuck, about which Geoffrey Himes wrote in the Washington Post, “Few vocalists of any genre can match Chuck D’s rich, rumbling baritone, his supreme confidence or his crisp articulation.” Chuck D’s latest album, released in March 2023, is We Wreck Stadiums, a compilation of 11 songs about baseball.
See the full U.S. Book Show schedule here.
Registration is open for the U.S. Book Show; early-bird rates are now in effect. Members of the media may apply for complimentary in-person and/or virtual press passes on the press page.
High-res headshots of the author Chuck D (photo credit John Halliday) and book cover: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d1k0eon37exm44qcuynzb/h?dl=0&rlkey=1yjtrgzb9qztvskdno1elys90
Or under the Images and Logos tab at https://usbookshow.com/press/
For more information, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-917-217-4269, ccassidy@publishersweekly.com.
About Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
is the international news platform of the book publishing industry. Founded 150 years ago in 1872 and published weekly since then, the magazine boasts 1.23 million social media followers; publishes 10 e-newsletters, BookLife (a website and semimonthly supplement), Publishers Weekly en Español (in partnership with Lantia), two blogs, podcasts, a mobile edition, digital editions and apps; and features a thriving website that reaches 14 million unique visitors annually. In conjunction with the Sharjah Book Fair, the magazine is also published in an Arabic edition.
###