Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin is an American rapper and spoken word artist and is a member of the hip hop group Public Enemy and head of the Security of the First World.

PROFESSOR GRIFF TICKETS BTS Tickets Rush Tickets Journey Tickets Shakira Tickets Bryson Tiller Tickets Earth, Wind and Fire Tickets

Early years in Public Enemy

After returning from the army, he started a security service to work the local party circuit, calling it Unity Force. Ridenhour was then a part of the Spectrum City DJ-for-hire service led by Hank Shocklee, and Spectrum City and Unity Force frequently worked side-by-side at local events. When Public Enemy was formed and signed to Def Jam, Ridenhour invited Griffin to be a sideman. Unity Force was renamed "The Security of the First World", or S1W for short. The S1W’s were brought along, and became a curious combination of bodyguards/dancers for the band. Their stage routines were a loose combination of martial arts, military drill and "step show" dances lifted from black college fraternities.

His role was also to be the road manager and "minister of information", the intellectual public face of the band for interviews et cetera, as Flavor Flav was the "fun" one. He was rarely MC'ing, except between songs.

In 1989, the band did an interview for the Washington Times . The interviewing journalist, David Mills, lifted some quotes from a UK magazine in which the band were asked their opinion on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Griffin’s comments apparently sympathized with the Palestinians and, reiterated in the new interview, a media firestorm was set off. ^[1]

In a series of press conferences, Griffin was either fired, quit, or never left. Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin had already left the label by then; taking his place alongside Russell Simmons was Lyor Cohen, a one-time rap show promoter and an Israeli immigrant. Before the dust settled, Cohen claims to have arranged for a New York Jewish Historical museum to give the band a private tour. Nonetheless, increasing attention from the press and pressure from Def Jam hierarchy led Griffin to quietly leave the band by that December.

1990s

At the same time, Ridenhour was in talks with 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell, who then signed Griffin as a recording artist for his label Skyywalker (later, Luke) Records. He recorded three albums for Luke, Pawns in the Game (1990), Kaos II Wiz-Dome (1991) and Disturb N Tha Peace (1992). These LPs were critically acclaimed by most in the hip-hop press, while getting heavily mixed reviews from the rock press, which tended to cite his recent controversies as a sticking point. Griffin eventually moved to Atlanta and did a brief stint working as a bounty hunter for a family member's bail bondsman service.

By 1996, he and Ridenhour resumed their relationship as Griffin did some guest vocals on Chuck D’s solo album, The Autobiography of Mistachuck . By 1998, he had formally re-joined the band, performing on "Game Over" on the He Got Game LP and he went on tour with Public Enemy for the House of Blues/Smokin’ Grooves tour, a kind of hip-hop-centered Lollapalooza. That same year, he released his fourth solo album, Blood of the Profit , on Lethal/Mercury Records.

2000s

In 2000, Ridenhour and Griffin took on a side project, the rap rock outfit Confrontation Camp.

Griff's last solo effort And the Word Became Flesh followed in 2001; in an unfortunate coincidence, it was released on September 11 of that year. Griff's early Luke/Atlantic Records catalog is out of print, due to the absorption of the masters by new ownership after Luther Campbell went through bankruptcy proceedings in 1994. Many of Griffin's early recordings were re-recorded for And the Word was Made Flesh .

Griffin's role in Public Enemy has expanded, as he has contributed vocals and production work to Public Enemy’s There's a Poison Goin' On, Revolverlution and New Whirl Odor LPs. When not on tour with PE, he fronts a funk/metal/rap side project called The 7th Octave. The four-piece unit released their debut EP in 2004 on MVD Recordings, and plans to re-release it in 2005. He has recently been critical of the popularity of Flavor Flav's show Flavor of Love, denouncing it as degrading towards Black women.

On February 10, 2008, Professor Griff's house in Atlanta was destroyed by an explosion that was blamed on a gas leak; no one was hurt.

In 2009, he appeared as one of the only voices of the hip-hop community (along with KRS-ONE) in The Obama Deception, a movie critical of United States President Barack Obama.

Details on the controversy

Griff was accused of anti-Semitism in 1989, when Public Enemy enjoyed unprecedented mainstream attention with their "Fight the Power" single from the soundtrack of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing .

According to the book Rap Attack 2 , he stated in the interview that "Jews are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world" (p. 177). He denies the charge to this day, calling it "crazy...really, really, crazy." Despite Griffin's denial, Ridenhour expressed an apology on his behalf. ^[2]

In an attempt to defuse the situation, Ridenhour first fired Griffin. He later rejoined the group, but Ridenhour then disbanded the group. When Public Enemy reformed, just a few days later, its members initially did so without Griffin.

Afrocentrism

Although himself partly Native American, Griffin has embraced a radical kind of Afrocentrism. "Muslim, Christian, Jew - here's a little somethin' I thought you knew/ there is only one God and God is one - the Rich praises none."

After his departure from Public Enemy, Griffin formed his own group, the Last Asiatic Disciples. Griffin's albums were of an Islamic and pseudo-Afrocentric style combined with increasingly spoken word lyrics.

He is a member of the The Nation of Gods and Earths, also known as the Five Percenters, an offshoot of Nation of Islam which his lyrics and record titles as a solo artist referenced. He also is a speaker against New World Order conspiracy, some believe this is related to his involvement with the the Five Percenters; though it has not been verified.

Discography

Year	Album	Chart Positions
		US	US Hip-Hop
1990	Pawns in the Game	127	24
1991	Kao's II Wiz*7*Dome	-	70
1992	Disturb N Tha Peace	-	-
1998	Blood of the Profit	-	-
2001	And The Word Became Flesh	-	-
"—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released

Footnotes

1. Today in Music History
2. Public Enemy Hip-Hop Group Reorganizes after Anti-Semitic Comments - New York Times

de:Professor Griff