‘Once you’re over 40, you can’t stay dating’: Public Enemy’s Chuck D on love

Chuck D is an American rapper best known for being a member of Public Enemy. Here, the 64-year-old talks about the one person who makes him pause in an argument, working on a song with Janet Jackson and why his daughter is in good hands.

“I’ve had more marriages than dates... it’s an agreement with another human being and if you don’t see eye to eye, then cool.”Credit: © David Levene / eyevine / Headpress

I grew up close to my maternal grandmother Willie Mae Foster in Queens, New York. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and migrated to New York when she met my grandfather in the 1930s. She gave birth to my mom [Judy] in 1939, the same year as the New York World’s Fair. She passed away in 1976. She was the first close death I witnessed on my mother’s side of the family.

I grew up knowing my paternal grandmother Troxie until 1968 when I was eight years old. She passed away aged 48. She raised my father Lorenzo with her mother in Harlem, New York. She was a housekeeper and caretaker.

Mom grew up on the same block in Harlem as my dad. They met as kids and started dating as teenagers. My parents were a cool couple in their early 20s in the 1960s. It was the time of Vietnam, the Black Panther Party, college protests, the era of soul and jazz. We went from being described as negro on our birth certificate in 1960, to coloured by the mid-60s and by the end of the ’60s, Black was beautiful and Black power was something we felt closest to in our ideals. I was encouraged to step to the table with anybody and never be afraid.

My mom has an opinion and doesn’t hold back on what she feels thinks or believes. I have learnt you have to let her ride with that and make her feel it’s her world. Mom always encouraged me to be an artist, a conscientious objector and to make my own decisions. I never thought I was lesser than anyone in the world. Mom is 85 and an independent person. She didn’t drive for the first 40 years of her life, but when she went separate ways with Dad, she did all the things she didn’t do when she was a mother raising three kids.

I am the eldest of three. I have a sister, Lisa – one year younger than me, and my brother Eric is three years younger. We were pretty tight as a family growing up. When my sister came into the household, I looked at her as being my public enemy number one [laughs]. I was an only child until she was born. She is a very strong woman, and likes being a tough girl. I am not afraid of anybody when it comes to having an argument, but I have to pause when I am on the opposite end of her opinion.

I definitely noticed girls growing up. It was until I was a teenager in the ’70s that I learnt how to dance, be courteous to girls and always polite if I wanted to get their attention. I am not a naturally pretty boy, so I had to learn how to talk the talk.

I recorded a song with singer Mavis Staples called Give We The Pride. It’s one of the joys of my recording career, as is singing with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon on Kool Thing. Our bands shared a studio in the early ’90s. They were making Goo and Public Enemy was making Fear of a Black Planet. I am forever grateful to Kim Gordon for dragging me into Studio A at Greene St Recording.

I worked with Janet Jackson on a song New Agenda in 1993. To me, she was quiet and shy; very different to the sex symbol video clips she was making at the time. I think she was a little intimidated by me. But we had a joyous time together.

I have been through a few relationships at my age, and married a few times. I believe that once you’re over the age of 40 you can’t stay dating, you should marry the woman to solidify something. That’s my view anyway. I’ve had more marriages than dates, not to joke about that, but my thing is that you make a commitment, it’s an agreement with another human being and if you don’t see eye to eye, then cool. I give it my all until it doesn’t work.

My ex-wife Dr Gaye Johnson [Associate Professor in African American Studies at UCLA], is an amazing person and human being. She is seriously committed to teaching others and being kind. I know our daughter [Chuck has two older children from a previous marriage] is in good hands and we co-parent. I am married to a fantastic woman now and prefer to keep our relationship private.

Public Enemy’s On The Grid 35th Anniversary Tour is touring in October.

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