When Public Enemy's Chuck D wrote Burn Hollywood Burn as a scathing indictment of the film industry's treatment of black actors and the LAPD's infamous racial profiling for his band's third album, Fear Of A Black Planet, he could not possibly have imagined that, 35 years on, his song would be co-opted by online edgelords taking pleasure from seeing the destruction caused by devastating Californian wildfires.
But here we are.
Yesterday, January 9, the hip-hop legend called out those misappropriating the band's song in this insensitive manner, calling on those doing so to “learn the history.”
“Burn Hollywood Burn is a protest song,” the rapper explained on Instagram, on a post captioned 'PRAY 4 LA'. “Extracted from the Watts rebellion monikered by the Magnificent Montague in 1965 against inequality when he said ‘Burn baby burn’ across the air. We made mind revolution songs aimed at a one-sided exploitation by a[n] industry. Has nothing to do with families, losing everything they have in a natural disaster.”
“Learn the history,” he added. “Godspeed to those in loss.”
“Please don’t use our song on your reels and pictures of this horrifying natural disaster.”
The fires in Los Angeles have already claimed 10 lives, destroyed thousands of properties, and led to the evacuation of 180,000 people.
Actor Mel Gibson, who lost his Malibu home in the fires, has told controversial podcaster Joe Rogan that the fires may be a signal of an impending collapse of civilisation.
“All those earmarks, the precursors of a collapse, they’re present in our time,” Gibson says, adding “It doesn’t take long” for a civilisation to collapse.
