Chuck D slams misuse of ‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ amid L.A. wildfires

Chuck D doesn’t want fans misusing one of his famous fire-themed songs.

The rapper has released a statement saying that anyone associating Public Enemy’s “Burn Hollywood Burn” with the Los Angeles wildfires is misrepresenting the group’s original intentions.

“‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ is a protest song,” he wrote in the statement, explaining that it is linked to a very different Los Angeles event and providing some historical context.

The track was “extracted from the Watts Rebellion monikered by the Magnificent Montague in 1965 against inequality when he said ‘burn, baby, burn’ across the air,” Chuck D said. “We made mind revolution songs aimed at a one-sided exploitation by [an] industry.”

Public Enemy’s 1990 track, off their third studio album, Fear of a Black Planet, features guest verses from Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane and clearly rails against racism, stereotyping, exploitation, and a lack of space for Black voices in entertainment. It does not, however, vilify the city of Los Angeles or any other literal location. (While DJ Magnificent Montague distanced himself from the Watts Rebellion throughout his life, he did coin the catchphrase “Burn Baby Burn,” which eventually became the movement’s rallying cry.)

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Chuck D reiterated that the hip-hop group’s song is in no way connected to tragic extreme weather events. “Has nothing to do with families losing everything they have in a natural disaster,” he wrote. “Learn the history. Godspeed to those in loss.”

The rapper has also shared information about a number of resources for victims of the fires on his social media pages.

Some listeners thought about the Public Enemy track this week, as multiple massive wildfires burned throughout Los Angeles County — including the Sunset Fire, which blazed in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night. Although that fire prompted massive traffic jams and evacuation orders in areas that included TCL Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, it is now contained and ultimately did not destroy any homes.

Los Angeles is not in the clear, however, as the Palisades Fire in the Malibu area and the Eaton Fire in Altadena have collectively destroyed more than 10,000 structures and killed 11 people so far, reports Reuters. Many of those affected by the fires are working- and middle-class people, and over 153,000 Angelenos are under evacuation orders across Los Angeles County.

Jennifer Garner, whose house survived the Palisades Fire but whose Pacific Palisades community was largely destroyed by the flames, emphasized how the disaster has impacted people from all walks of life. “It’s almost like Sesame Street, right?” she said in an emotional interview with MSNBC. “You know the people who are serving you food. You know the people. You care about each other. There’s a reciprocity here, and there’s a real love here, and we’ve gotta take care of them. And I can think of people who work at these places that I’ve been in touch with who — their parents lost their homes, they lost their homes, they lost the place [where] they work.”

The fires have also destroyed the homes of numerous high-profile entertainers, including Billy Crystal, Anthony Hopkins, Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Jeff Bridges, Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, Paris Hilton, Diane Warren, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly, Miles Teller, Harvey Guillén, Jennifer Grey, Cary Elwes, and Eugene Levy.

Click here for more information on ways to support victims of the California wildfires.