At Ohio State’s MLK celebration, rapper Chuck D muses about AI’s influence on music

During The Ohio State University’s 53rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, College of Engineering Dean Ayanna Howard led a discussion with legendary hip-hop artist Chuck D about how artists can use artificial intelligence and other technology to amplify the message of their music. The event was presented by Ohio State’s Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center at the Ohio Union.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration brought together students, faculty, staff and community members to pay tribute to the civil rights icon.

“Since 1972, The Ohio State University has proudly celebrated Dr. King’s legacy, a leader who dedicated his life to the philosophical pursuit of love and justice,” said Summer Luckey, interim director of the Hale Center. “His influence is deeply felt in our programs, activities and initiatives we develop to support and uplift all students.”

When taking the stage with Chuck D, Howard said she has been a fan of the trailblazing hip-hop artist since his group, Public Enemy, released the chart-topping single “Fight the Power” in the summer of 1989.

“When ‘Fight the Power’ came out, I had just graduated from high school, and one of the things Chuck D showed us, in that generation, is how you can use your voice and your talent for activism through music,” Howard said. “You actually showed us how to have power with our words and our voices.”

Born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, the Long Island, New York, native is a musician, activist, author and painter. He and his Public Enemy bandmates have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2024, he was appointed by the federal government as a U.S. global music ambassador, following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. 

Chuck D has also served as an ambassador for Hip Hop Public Health, a nonprofit organization that promotes healthy lifestyles and disease prevention. He is also a board member of the Hip Hop Museum and the Library of Congress.

During his conversation with Howard, Chuck D shared how he and Public Enemy approached composing “Fight the Power.” When Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Lee approached the group about composing a song for his movie “Do the Right Thing,” Chuck D said he drew on inspiration from the 1975 song “Fight the Power, Parts 1 and 2” by Cincinnati natives, The Isley Brothers.

“All the things that Ronald and Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers said 15 years prior made all the sense in 1989,” Chuck D said. “As DJs, we call ourselves musicologists. We grew up on James Brown and The Beatles, and all these people talked to us through AM radio.”

Chuck D said he has long been fascinated by the technology through which music is distributed, from radio waves to record-player turntables to contemporary streaming services. Among his many roles is technology entrepreneur. He invented the Bring the Noise app, which promotes music and culture.

Apps, artificial intelligence and other technology can be used as tools to enhance creativity, but should not be relied on as substitutes for natural talent, he said.

“If you’re not on top of technology, it will be on top of you,” he said. “You have to be able to take the technology and manipulate it. It doesn’t mean that you will master it, but you’ve got to manage it. With AI, any time technology comes along, to be awestruck and afraid and scared might be the wrong thing to do. You have to learn how to dance with what comes at you.”

Hip hop marked its 50th anniversary as an art form in 2023, and Chuck D said technology will play a key role in determining its future.

“Hip hop was a global code … to make people feel that they were important,” he said. “And I always thought when technology comes along, it’s a good thing. Because instead of looking at and praising something that’s sold to you, you look in your own gadget and you feel like you’re somebody.”