{"id":803199,"date":"2020-01-18T10:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T17:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=939964"},"modified":"2020-01-18T10:03:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T17:03:04","slug":"chuck-d-slams-grammys-over-ceos-ousting-same-old-bullsh-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/chuck-d-slams-grammys-over-ceos-ousting-same-old-bullsh-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Chuck D Slams Grammys Over CEO\u2019s Ousting: \u2018Same Old Bullsh-t\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chuck D<\/a> slammed the Recording Academy<\/a> over their decision to part ways with their new CEO Deborah Dugan<\/a>, a stunning move that occurred just 10 days before the Grammy Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI salute Deborah Dugan for her truth and courage to try and effect change,\u201d the Public Enemy rapper wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cAs always, a bunch of ignorant, testosterone-fueled, usually old white men stop progress and screw it up.  Same old bullshit. They want to keep it status quo and make sure things like Hip Hop stay the poster child of their fuckery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Thursday night, the Recording Academy put Dugan on \u201cadministrative leave\u201d over \u201cconcerns raised\u201d by its Board of Trustees and \u201ca formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, insiders subsequently called Dugan\u2019s dismissal \u201ca coup\u201d to Variety<\/em><\/a> after the CEO sent an email that challenged the Recording Academy\u2019s \u201cexorbitant and unnecessary\u201d spending, voting irregularities, conflicts of interest and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his Instagram post, Chuck D aligned himself with the ousted Dugan, who held the job for only five months following the exit of longtime Grammy chief Neil Portnow. The rapper relayed his positive experience working with Dugan following news that Public Enemy would receive the Grammys<\/a>\u2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cHip Hop can\u2019t be judged by a bunch of old corporate guards who rewrite history to serve their corporate bottom line,\u201d Chuck D wrote. \u201cBut it was obvious [Dugan] was having her own struggles with an academy that thinks Public Enemy ended in 1992 yet want to give us a lifetime achievement award without acknowledging a lifetime of work. We had to haggle, to educate, to justify why a core member of our group for the past 22 years, DJ Lord, should be part of this award.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Public Enemy are just the second hip-hop group, following Run-D.M.C., to receive the Grammys\u2019 Lifetime Achievement Award; Chuck D stopped short of saying whether Dugan\u2019s exit will impact Public Enemy\u2019s participation in the award presentation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this letter will be a wake-up call for them,\u201d the rapper wrote in conclusion. \u201cNew folks but the same ol bullshit pattern doesn\u2019t change a thing. So I\u2019m not surprised that Deborah Dugan is out. I am appalled because it reeks of the same old jive, a New Whirl Odor that considers the masses simply as \u2018them asses.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My open letter To The Grammy\u2019s and Hip hop \u270a\ud83c\udffe \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 Figures\u2026 I salute Deborah Dugan for her truth and courage to try and effect change. As always, a bunch of ignorant, testosterone-fueled, usually old white men stop progress and screw it up.  Same old bullshit. They want to keep it status quo and make sure things like Hip Hop stay the poster child of their fuckery. In 1989 we protested the Grammys because they refused to acknowledge a new art form called Hip Hop\/Rap.  I responded with the lyric, \u201cWho gives a fuck about a goddamn Grammy.\u201d We fought to be recognized and for things to change. We kicked that door in for others to come through. After 35 years in this industry, folks should know that I always defer any individual accomplishment, always giving salutes to those before me and trying to open the door for those after me.  In agreeing to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award when Deborah called me was no different. We discussed these issues and what needed to change. Hip Hop can\u2019t be judged by a bunch of old corporate guards who rewrite history to serve their corporate bottom line. But it was obvious she was having her own struggles with an academy that thinks Public Enemy ended in 1992 yet want to give us a lifetime achievement award without acknowledging a lifetime of work. We had to haggle, to educate, to justify why a core member of our group for the past 22 years, DJ Lord, should be part of this award. We had to question why our biggest UK hit and the theme to the global Paralympics Games, \u201cHarder Than You Think,\u201d was left out. Maybe because it was released on my own independent label, SlamJamz, and not a major? Never could I have imagined that pushing for the recognition our art form deserved would turn into artists being coerced into disrespecting the craft, themselves, the culture and other people only to chase the bag and validation from corporations and award shows who don\u2019t care about you.  I hope this letter will be a wake-up call for them. New folks but the same ol bullshit pattern doesn\u2019t change a thing. So I\u2019m not surprised that Deborah Dugan is out. I am appalled because it reeks of the same old jive, a New Whirl Odor that ..<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Chuck D \ud83c\udfa4<\/a> (@mrchuckd_pe) on

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Chuck D slammed the Recording Academy over their decision to part ways with their new CEO Deborah Dugan, a stunning move that occurred just 10 days before the Grammy Awards. \u201cI salute Deborah Dugan for her truth and courage to try and effect change,\u201d the Public Enemy rapper wrote on Instagram. \u201cAs always, a bunch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-803199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-25 14:11:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}