Chuck D says Public Enemy split from Flavor Flav was an April Fools' joke to promote new album

Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
·2 min read
Chuck D says Public Enemy split from Flavor Flav was an April Fools' joke to promote new album

Happy April Fools' Day? After a messy apparent feud with Public Enemy bandmate Flavor Flav last month, Chuck D says the fallout was to get fans' attention ahead of a new album release.

In an interview with UPROXX released Tuesday night, Chuck D, 59, said their public argument over an announced Public Enemy appearance at a Bernie Sanders rally didn't actually have anything to do with politics. Rather, it served as hype a month before their new collaboration, the album "Loud Is Not Enough," which released Wednesday.

"Number one, Flavor don't know the difference between Bernie Sanders, Barry Sanders or Colonel Sanders," Chuck D said. "We already talked about this beforehand. Public Enemy Radio went up, his lawyer said 'I'll cease and desist,' I'm like, 'good move.' "

Rappers Chuck D (L) and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy perform onstage at SXSW on March 12, 2016 in Austin, Texas.
Rappers Chuck D (L) and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy perform onstage at SXSW on March 12, 2016 in Austin, Texas.

Chuck D chronicled a back and forth in which Flavor Flav had been privately working with him on the album since February, but was publicly sending a cease-and-desist letter to the Sanders campaign and threatening to sue Chuck D without any real intention to do so.

"But I can say it. Because if the public is confused about this, that, whatever, they're going to be confused about what's a lawsuit and what's not," he said. "I'm not saying it's a hoax, I'm saying that the original intention is to get your attention... he can't (get fired), he's a partner. You don't fire partners, you just walk away from them."

Previously: Public Enemy is 'moving forward without Flavor Flav' after Bernie Sanders rally dispute

He concluded: "I don't like this pull no (expletive) on people. Don't trick and fool the people, but... Not to say that me and Flavor are on two different pages, because we're always on two different pages, but we felt that over the past few years, Flavor's stock is low.... So I looked at it – me and Flavor, every couple years we negotiate with each other and I just said, 'well something has to be done or figure out or whatever.'

“We're taking April Fools," Chuck D said. "We're taking it over. It’s April Flav Chuck Day.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bernie Sanders feud with Flavor Flav was to hype up new album: Chuck D