The inimitable Flavor Flav has been omnipresent in recent years, sponsoring the U.S. Women’s Water Polo team, saving Red Lobster and showing up at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Taylor Swift shows and the Grammys—and that’s only a sliver of Flav’s endeavors.
It was enough for his Public Enemy partner Chuck D to take note and coin him the “everywhere man.” In fact, they dropped a collaborative single of the same name in January 2024, highlighting Flav’s second (third or even fourth) chapter. Flavor Flav is at it again, this time as the official face of 1-Hour Energy, made by the same company behind 5-Hour Energy.
During a recent Zoom interview with AllHipHop, Flav talked about the benefits of 1-Hour Energy, Public Enemy’s future and how he’s been able to reinvent himself in his 60s. From his iconic career in Public Enemy to reality television fame with shows like VH1’s Flavor of Love, Flav has lived many lives. But at the end of the day, one thing remains the same: his admiration for Chuck D. Although, as he pointed out, they are “equal partners,” Flav has looked up Chuck since they were students at Adelphi University.
Their chemistry, too, is still palpable on stage. Last month, the Black Music Action Coalition hosted a Restore & Rebuild L.A. event during Grammy Week at Deliah in West Hollywood, where he and Chuck performed Public Enemy’s revolutionary anthem “Fight the Power,” a song that still rings true today.
“The song is still relevant, the whole nine,” he said. “When Chuck wrote the song, he was kind of ahead of his time. I’m saying that’s one thing that I can always say about my partner, Chuck D. Chuck, when he writes, he’s always ahead of his time. That’s why I always back him because usually before Chuck writes down anything, he does the research first. That way, once the information does come out on records, we know what we’re talking about.”
The “Fight the Power” video, which was originally shot in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn on April 22, 1989, doubled as a political rally. Flavor Flav is always transported back in time when they perform it together.
“It feels like the first time when we made the video,” he said. “It always brings me back to that. I had so much fun that day making that ‘Fight the Power’ video. Not only that, but also right now today, too, that the record ‘Fight the Power’ is still a very, very strong statement.”
Public Enemy revolutionized Hip-Hop with their politically charged lyrics and The Bomb Squad’s innovative production technique. Their albums, particularly 1988’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and 1990’s Fear of a Black Planet, redefined what rap music could achieve, addressing issues of racism, media manipulation and social injustice. Their innate ability to combine education with entertainment challenged listeners to reflect on societal issues, setting a new standard for meaningful artistic expression—and they’re still at it decades later.
“We’re scheduled to go out on tour with Guns N’ Roses this summer and we’re working on some new songs right now to bring out on the road,” Flav said. “We got some fresh brand new songs right now that we’re putting together, and we’re almost done with them. We’re just putting the finishing touches on them, a couple of little knick-knacks, tweaks, this and that. Boom. Then y’all will have a fresh brand new EP from me and Chuck.”
While Chuck and Flav have certainly had their differences over the years, it’s crystal clear Flav has immense respect for the Rhyme Animal.
“I ain’t gonna lie, man, but I’ve always been one of Chuck’s biggest fans, not only just one of his biggest supporters—the whole nine,” he said. “But Chuck always was like a leader to me. He gives off that sense of leadership, even though we’re partners. You know what I’m saying? We’re equal partners, but he’s still more like a leader to me.”
Flav didn’t hesitate when asked what his favorite Public Enemy song was. It’s the song that started it all. The song that landed them at Def Jam Recordings. The song that changed their lives.
“My favorite personal Public Enemy song is ‘Public Enemy Number One,’” he revealed. “That’s the first one out the box, baby! That one did it. I’m just most proud of still being able to be here talking about what we’re talking about right now. There’s a lot of brothers and men that I came up with that’s not alive right now who can sit around and talk about it like me or like Chuck. I’m most proud of still being able to exist right now and have the chance to keep reinventing myself.”
Flavor Flav is on the move on any given day and there’s not one that goes by where he’s not recognized or swarmed by fans. At this point, Flav has been famous for nearly 40 years and said he doesn’t really think about “the fame” too much.
“All I ever do is just live day to day and enjoy the people that enjoy me,” he concluded. “And that’s it. I feel that I’m one of the most humblest people. I’ve never really seen my size. A lot of people tell me I’m huge and I’m larger than life, but I don’t see me that size. I just see me this size. This is the size you’re going to get.”
