Flavor Flav

Chuck D's comic foil in the pioneering rap group Public Enemy, Flavor Flav was born William Drayton on March 16, 1959. A classically trained pianist, he was rapping under the alias MC DJ Flavor when he first met graphic design student Carlton Ridenhour, who under the name Chuck D formed Public Enemy in 1982; following the release of their 1987 debut LP Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the group emerged as the most important act in hip-hop if not all contemporary music, brilliantly fusing socially conscious, politically charged rhymes with chaotic cut-and-paste productions to forever reshape the direction of not merely rap but rock as well. As the cartoonish counterpoint to Chuck's authoritarian presence, Flavor Flav essentially invented the role of the rap sidekick, innovating the absurdist delivery later borrowed by everyone from Busta Rhymes to Ol' Dirty Bastard; with his gold teeth, clownish sunglasses, and omnipresent clock dangling from his neck, Flavor also became PE's visual focus, taking lead vocal duties on hits including the classic "911 Is a Joke." Even as Public Enemy's influence waned in the mid-'90s, Flavor Flav continued to make headlines for his frequent run-ins with the law; he also worked on his long-awaited solo album, reportedly delivering two completed records to Def Jam which the label rejected on both occasions. A full-length titled It's About Time was set to be released on the Lightyear imprint in late 1999, but it never surfaced. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide