Editing Professor Griff

{{Use American English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Professor Griff
| background        = solo_singer
| image             = Professor Griff 2014.jpg
| image_size        = 
| landscape         = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt               = 
| caption           = Professor Griff performing with [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]] in 2014
| birth_name        = Richard Duane Griffin
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1960|8|1}}
| birth_place       = [[Roosevelt, New York]], U.S.
| genre             = [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]
| occupation        = {{hlist|[[Rapper]]|[[spoken word artist]]|[[lecturer]]}}
| instrument        = Vocals
| years_active      = 1982–present
| label             = {{hlist|[[Luke Records|Luke]]|[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]|[[Blackheart Records|Blackheart]]|[[PolyGram Records|PolyGram]]|[[Play It Again Sam (record label)|PIAS]]}}
| past_member_of    = [[Public Enemy]]
| associated_acts   = [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]], [[Confrontation Camp]], [[Chuck D]], [[Flavor Flav]], [[DJ Lord]], [[S1W (group)|The S1W]], [[Terminator X]], [[Sister Souljah]]
}}

'''Richard Duane Griffin''' (born August 1, 1960), better known by his stage name '''Professor Griff''', is an American [[spoken word]] artist, and [[lecturer]]{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} currently residing in Atlanta. He was a member of the [[hip hop]] group [[Public Enemy]], serving as the group's Minister of Information.

During his time with Public Enemy, he was an adherent of the ideas espoused by [[Nation of Islam]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]], which informed both Griffin's and Public Enemy's ideological views. Having served in the U.S. Army and cultivating an interest in [[martial arts]], he trained the S1W security team that toured with Public Enemy dressed in military uniforms, doing choreographed military step drills on stage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Santoro |first1=Gene |title=Dancing in Your Head: Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Beyond |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/dancinginyourhea0000sant  |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/dancinginyourhea0000sant/page/119 119] |isbn=9780195101232}}</ref>

==Controversy and departure from Public Enemy==
Before the release of ''[[It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back]]'', Professor Griff, in his role as Minister of Information, gave interviews to UK magazines on behalf of Public Enemy, during which he made [[homophobic]] and [[antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] remarks. In a 1988 issue of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' he stated, "There's no place for [[gay]]s. When God destroyed [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], it was for that sort of behaviour" and "If the Palestinians took up arms, went into Israel and killed all the Jews, it'd be all right."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/pe-law.php|title=The Shit Storm | access-date=2009-10-25|first1=Robert |last1=Christgau|year=1989|work=[[LA Weekly]]|author-link=Robert Christgau }}</ref><ref name="Today in Music History">{{cite web | title=Today in Music History | url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/music_blog/archive/2009/05/today_in_music_52.shtml | access-date=2009-05-26}}</ref> However, there was little controversy until May 22, 1989, when Griffin was interviewed by ''[[The Washington Times]]''. At the time,  Public Enemy enjoyed unprecedented mainstream attention with the single "[[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]" from the soundtrack of [[Spike Lee]]'s film ''[[Do the Right Thing]]''.

During the 1989 interview with [[David Mills (writer)|David Mills]], Griffin made numerous statements such as "[[Jew]]s are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/pe-law.php|title=The Shit Storm|access-date=2009-10-25|first=Robert|last=Christgau|year=1989|work=[[LA Weekly]]|author-link=Robert Christgau }}</ref><ref>[[David Toop|Toop, David]]. ''Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop''. Serpent's Tail 1992, pp. 177. {{ISBN|978-1-85242-243-1}}</ref> When the interview was published, a media firestorm emerged, and the band found itself under intense scrutiny.<ref name="Today in Music History"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/pe-90.php|title=Jesus, Jews, and the Jackass Theory|access-date=2007-10-25|first=Robert|last=Christgau|date=January 16, 1990|work=[[The Village Voice]]|author-link=Robert Christgau }}</ref>
[[File:Public Enemy Zagreb 2006 (02).jpg|thumb|Griff behind Chuck D, in Zagreb in 2006]]

In a series of press conferences, Griffin was either fired, quit, or demoted.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/11/arts/public-enemy-rap-group-reorganizes-after-anti-semitic-comments.html|title=Public Enemy Rap Group Reorganizes After Anti-Semitic Comments|last=Pareles|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Pareles|date=August 11, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 16, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Def Jam co-founder [[Rick Rubin]] had already left the label by then; taking his place alongside [[Russell Simmons]] was [[Lyor Cohen]], the son of [[Israeli people|Israeli]] immigrants who had run [[Rush Communications|Rush Artist Management]] since 1985. Before the dust settled, Cohen claims to have arranged for a [[Holocaust]] Museum to give the band a private tour.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5932745/little_lansky_and_the_big_check/print|title=Little Lansky and the Big Check |access-date=2009-10-25|first=Rich|last=Cohen|date=June 21, 2001|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|author-link=Rich Cohen}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In an attempt to defuse the situation, Public Enemy frontman [[Chuck D]] first expressed an apology on Griffin's behalf,<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Pareles |authorlink=Jon Pareles|title=Public Enemy Rap Group Reorganizes After Anti-Semitic Comments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/11/arts/public-enemy-rap-group-reorganizes-after-anti-semitic-comments.html|work=[[The New York Times]]  |date=August 11, 1989 |access-date=October 25, 2009 }}</ref> and fired Griffin soon thereafter. Griffin later rejoined the group, provoking more protests, causing Chuck D to briefly disband the group. When Public Enemy reformed, due to increasing attention from the press and pressure from Def Jam hierarchy, Griffin was no longer with the group.

Griffin later publicly expressed remorse for his statements after a meeting with the National Holocaust Awareness Student Organization in 1990.<ref>{{cite news |first=Greg |last=Baker |title=The Education of Professor Griff |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1990-07-11/news/the-education-of-professor-griff/ |work=[[Miami New Times]] |date=July 11, 1990 |access-date=October 25, 2009 |archive-date=December 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201101721/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1990-07-11/news/the-education-of-professor-griff |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In his 2009 book ''Analytixz'',<ref>Professor Griff. Analytixz: 20 Years of Conversations and Enter-views with Public Enemy's Minister of Information. Atlanta: RATHSI Publishing, 2009, p. 12.</ref> Griffin once again admitted the faults in his 1989 statement: "To say the Jews are responsible for the majority of wickedness that went on around the globe, I would have to know about the majority of wickedness that went on around the globe, which is impossible...I'm not the best knower—[[God]] is. Then, not only knowing that, I would have to know who is at the crux of all of the problems in the world and then blame Jewish people, which is not correct." Griff also said that not only were his words taken out of context, but that the recording was never released to the public for an unbiased listen. In a [[YouTube]] interview on August 2, 2018, Griffin recalled one of his many long conversations with record executive Lyor Cohen he said he used to have respectful debates about history: "I told him about the history of him and his people about the [[Ashkenazi]], the Ashke-Nazis, and when I laid it on him he couldn't handle it and I'm like, all right, which is common knowledge today everybody talking about it, you understand what I'm saying people are making books about it."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0f3JkoU-t8&lc=z23cexvrfmqczt2at04t1aokgpm0wpeytum0wrlwy0vjrk0h00410.1533495772349909  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/B0f3JkoU-t8| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Professor Griff responds to Lyor Cohen calling Him 'Nuts' on The Breakfast Club |date=August 2, 2018 |publisher=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2020-04-10}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Afrocentrism==
Griffin embraces a form of [[Afrocentrism]]. He is a member of the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Robert Fitzgerald |last1=Diggs|authorlink1=RZA|first2=Chris|last2=Norris|title=Wu-Tang Manual|publisher=[[Penguin Publishing]]|location=New York City|isbn= 9781594480188|date=2005|page=43}}</ref>

After his departure from Public Enemy, Griffin formed his own group, the Last Asiatic Disciples. Griffin's albums were of an [[Islam]]ic (NOI) and Afrocentric style, combined with increasingly [[spoken word]] lyrics.

His lyrics and record titles as a solo artist referenced his allegiance to the [[Nation of Islam]]. Another general theme in his lyrics is [[New World Order (conspiracy theory)|New World Order conspiracy]].

==Personal life==
On August 27, 2017, Griffin married rapper [[Solé]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} The couple met 23 years earlier and resumed their relationship after Solé and [[Ginuwine]] divorced.

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album
! colspan="3"| Chart Positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:45px;"| [[Billboard 200|US]]
! style="width:45px;"| [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|US Hip-Hop]]
|-
| 1990
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Pawns in the Game]]''
| 127
| 24
|-
| 1991
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Kao's II Wiz*7*Dome]]''
| —
| 70
|-
| 1992
|align="left"| ''[[Disturb N Tha Peace]]''
| —
| —
|-
| 1998
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Blood of the Profit]]''
| —
| —
|-
| 2001
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[And The Word Became Flesh]]''
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="6"| <small>— - denotes the album failed to chart or was not released</small>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website|http://www.professorgriff.me}}
{{Professor Griff}}
{{Public Enemy}}
{{2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griff, Professor}}
[[Category:African American–Jewish relations]]
[[Category:African-American male rappers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:Afrocentrists]]
[[Category:American lecturers]]
[[Category:Members of the Nation of Islam]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:East Coast hip-hop musicians]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records artists]]
[[Category:Five percenters]]
[[Category:People from Roosevelt, New York]]
[[Category:Public Enemy (band) members]]
[[Category:Rappers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:21st-century American rappers]]