U.S. Rap: Listen Up!

RAIN IS STREAMING down in sheets on the Long Island suburb of Hempstead but, inside Public Enemy's headquarters, the group's leader Chuck D is just getting warmed up. While Public Enemy's producers Hank Shocklee and Eric Sadler work on backing tracks in the studio, mixing keyboard lines with samples from one of the 8,000 albums which line the walls, Chuck D is holding court in the office and talking up a storm.