A profound meditation on hip hop’s transformative power, In the Hour of Chaos takes us deep into the mind of the genre’s most unabashed revolutionary.

This book is not an autobiography. It’s not a manifesto. It’s a razor-sharp investigation into hip hop and rap music by searing lyricist and global music icon Chuck D of Public Enemy.
 
Engaging with some of the world’s leading thinkers on hip hop, “Professor Chuck” sets out on a journey that celebrates fifty years of hip hop and charts paths forward for its future. Exploring the intersections of hip hop with Black radicalism and feminism, media and technology, and globalization and politics, this curated collection shows the power of culture and the arts not only to bring people together but to bring about political change in this current hour of chaos.

Features conversations with leading thinkers, including Robin D. G. Kelley, H. Samy Alim, Jeff Chang, Davey D, Scot Brown, Cheryl L. Keyes, Gaye Theresa Johnson, Bryonn Bain, Maya Jupiter, Adam Bradley, Joan Morgan, and more.

"[Chuck D is] neither snootily professorial nor just an OG unspooling war stories. Rather, he’s a thoughtful interlocutor . . . .  a valuable chronicle of the genre’s role in troubled times—and how the times have always been troubled. Smart and chatty hip-hop history."

* Kirkus Reviews *

“Anyone even slightly familiar with the work of P.E. will know that Chuck D is a gifted lyricist, capable of boiling down very real experiences into lines that have the greatest impact—an attribute he shares with the likes of Dylan, Guthrie, and Marley. So, it’s not at all surprising that his book packs a genuine punch. The man can write.”

* Music Connection *

Chuck D is the Grammy-winning leader of the hip hop group Public Enemy. A rapper, lyricist, producer, visual artist, and author, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2022, he was the UCLA Hip Hop Initiative’s Inaugural Artist-in-Residence and currently serves on its National Advisory Board.