Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin (born 1 August 1960) is an American rapper and is a member of the music group Public Enemy and head of the S1W. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Rapping is one of the elements of hip hop and the distinguishing feature of hip hop music; it is a form of rhyming lyrics spoken rhythmically over musical instruments, with a musical backdrop of sampling, scratching and mixing by DJs. ... Public Enemy, also known as PE, is a seminal hip hop group from Long Island, New York, known for their politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community. ... S1W, short for Security of the First World, began as a security organisation in Roosevelt, New York under the name of Unity Force where they provided security at hip hop parties during the mid 1980s. ...

Solo Career Overview

A childhood friend of Chuck D, Richard Griffin was exposed to hip-hop as it came to the Long Island, New York town of Roosevelt, where most of the founding members of Public Enemy grew up. By the 1980s, Griffin had become a martial arts enthusiast as well as having done a stint in the U.S. Army. Carlton Douglas Chuck D Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960) is an American rapper, composer, actor, author, radio personality and producer. ... This article is about Long Island in New York State. ... Roosevelt is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Nassau County, New York, United States. ...

After coming home, he started a security service to work the local party circuit, calling it Unity Force. Chuck was then a part of the Spectrum City DJ-for-hire service led by Hank Shocklee, and Spectrum City and Unity Force frequently worked side-by-side at local events. When Public Enemy was formed and signed to Def Jam, Chuck invited Griff to be a sideman. Unity Force was renamed "The Security of the First World", or S1W for short. The S1W’s were brought along, and became a curious combination of bodyguards/dancers for the band. Their stage routines were a loose combination of martial arts, military drill and "step show" dances lifted from black college fraternities. The Bomb Squad is a rap production whose original members were Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Keith Shocklee & Eric Vietnam Sadler. ... Def Jam Recordings is an American based hip-hop record label that operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group, which is owned by Universal Music Group. ...

While technically not a signed artist at Def Jam, he was nonetheless a key traveling member of the band, serving as de facto road manager for several years. Things began to derail when in 1989, the band did an interview for the Washington Times. The interviewing journalist, David Mills, lifted some quotes from a UK magazine where the band were asked their opinion on the Middle East Arab/Israeli conflicts. Griff’s comments apparently sympathized with the Palestinians and, reiterated in the new interview, a media firestorm was set off. The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. ...

In a series of curious press conferences, Griff was either fired, quit, or never left. Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin had already left the label by then; taking his place alongside Russell Simmons was Lyor Cohen, a one-time rap show promoter and an Israeli immigrant. Before the dust settled, Cohen claims to have arranged for a New York Jewish Historical museum to give the band a private tour. Nonetheless, increasing attention from the press and pressure from Def Jam hierarchy led Griff to quietly leave the band by that December. Frederick Jay Rubin (born March 10, 1963 in Lido Beach, LI, New York) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American record producer best known for his work with rap and heavy metal, as well as the American series albums with Johnny Cash. ... Russell Simmons (born October 4, 1957 in Queens, NY), is an American entrepreneur, the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, founder of another label, Russell Simmons Music Group, and creater of the clothing fashion line Phat Farm. ...

At the same time, Chuck D was in talks with 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell, who then signed Griff as a recording artist for his label Skyywalker (later, Luke) Records. He recorded three albums for Luke, Pawns in the Game (1990), Kaos II Wiz-Dome (1991) and Disturb N the Peace (1992). These LPs were critically acclaimed by most in the Hip-Hop press, while getting heavily mixed reviews from the Rock press, who tended to cite his recent controversies as a sticking point. Griff eventually moved to Atlanta and did a brief stint working as a bounty hunter for a family member's bail bondsman service. 2 Live Crew is a rap group. ... Luther R. Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke or Luke, is a record label owner and rap performer (taking the non-rapping role of hype man). He is perhaps best known as a one-time member of 2 Live Crew. ...

By 1996, he and Chuck D resumed their relationship as Griff did some guest vocals on Chuck D’s solo The Autobiography of Mistachuck album. By 1998, Griff had formally re-joined the band, performing on "Game Over" on the He Got Game LP and he went on tour with Public Enemy for the House of Blues/Smokin’ Grooves tour, which was a kind of hip-hop-centered Lollapalooza. That same year, he released his fourth solo album, Blood of the Profit, on Lethal/Mercury Records. And the Word was Made Flesh followed in 2001- In an unfortunate coincidence, its release date was on September 11 of that year. He Got Game is a 1998 drama-sports film directed by Spike Lee starring Ray Allen and Denzel Washington as a father and son trying to reconcile on the eve of the sons graduation from a Coney Island high school, and under pressure to decide which college basketball scholarship... Lollapalooza is an American music festival featuring alternative rock, hip hop, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ...

An accomplished percussionist/drummer, Griff's role in Public Enemy has expanded, as he has contributed vocals and production work to Public Enemy’s There's a Poison Goin' On, Revolverlution and New Whirl Odor LPs. When not on tour with PE, he fronts a funk/metal/rap side project called The 7th Octave. The four-piece unit released their debut EP in 2004 on MVD Recordings, and plans to re-release it in 2005. Theres a Poison Goin On is Public Enemys 1999 album, which contained the controversial track Swindlers Lust, an obvious parody of Steven Spielbergs film Schindlers List. ... Revolverlution is a rap album by Public Enemy. ... New Whirl Odor is the new Public Enemy album. ...

Controversy

Griff was accused of anti-Semitism in 1989, when Public Enemy enjoyed unprecedented mainstream attention with their "Fight the Power" single from Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing movie & soundtrack. According to Rap Attack 2, he suggested that "Jews are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world" (p. 177). That is a charge he denies to this day calling it "crazy...really, really, crazy." This was part of an interview for the Washington Times and it caused a media furor. The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article relates to the movie, Do the Right Thing. For cultural terms such as the Right Thing the Wrong Thing Good Things and Bad Things, see Right Thing. ... The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. ...

In an attempt to defuse the situation, Chuck D first "fired" Griff. Griff later "rejoined" the group, but Chuck D then "disbanded" the group. When Public Enemy reformed, they initially did so without Griff. Rick Rubin, cofounder of Def Jam, was of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, as were The Beastie Boys. Rubin, Satan, and the Beasties stopped short of condemning Professor Griff, though they did not endorse the quotes attributed to him. Carlton Douglas Chuck D Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960) is an American rapper, composer, actor, author, radio personality and producer. ... Carlton Douglas Chuck D Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960) is an American rapper, composer, actor, author, radio personality and producer. ... Public Enemy, also known as PE, is a seminal hip hop group from Long Island, New York, known for their politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community. ... Frederick Jay Rubin (born March 10, 1963 in Lido Beach, LI, New York) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American record producer best known for his work with rap and heavy metal, as well as the American series albums with Johnny Cash. ... Def Jam Recordings is an American based hip-hop record label that operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group, which is owned by Universal Music Group. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, Aškanazi,Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAškănāzî, ʾAškănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... The Beastie Boys as depicted on the cover of their 1992 album Check Your Head. ...

As the '90s came to a close, Griff rejoined the band, and Chuck and Griff took on a side project of hell, the Rapcore outfit Confrontation Camp. Rapcore is a musical genre that fuses the techniques of hip hop, punk, heavy metal and sometimes funk. ...

Afrocentrism

Although himself partly Native American, Griff has embraced a radical kind of Afrocentrism. "Muslim, Christian, Jew - here's a little somethin' I thought you knew/ there is only one God and God is one - the Rich praises none." After his departure from PE, Griff formed his own group, the Last Asiatic Disciples. Griff's albums were of an Islamic and pseudo-Afrocentric style combined with increasingly spoken-word lyrics. His early Luke/Atlantic Records catalog is out of print, due to the absorption of the masters by new ownership after Luther Campbell went through bankruptcy proceedings in 1994. Many of Griff's early recordings were re-recorded for And the Word was Made Flesh. Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... An 1812 map of Africa Afrocentrism is an academic, philosophical, and historical approach to the study of world history. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

Trivia

• Is referenced in the opening of the Dead Milkmen song "The Big Sleazy" as possibly being a history professor who told about "the history of jewelry."