The frontman of Public Enemy Flava Flav & Pharrell Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, which they will be performing at Brixton Academy on Friday, May 23. Williams will be performing with N¤E¤R¤D with new material from their new album “N*3*R*D” a few weeks later, on Saturday, June 14.
“…We’re influenced by so much, from Stevie Wonder to Steely Dan, Donny Hathaway to America. I wanted to sing like the guy from America when I was younger and I tried to imitate it on this record & Queen are amazing. I love classic rock. My family would move around a lot, so instead of just hearing Kool & The Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire and The Spinners, I was hearing Lynyrd Skynrd and AC/DC because we lived right by the Renegades, the Hell’s Angels. When the new wave stuff came around I was listening to things like Tears For Fears…” Says Pharrell
Flav, meanwhile, has battled with drugs since Public Enemy’s late-’80s/early ’90s heyday, but says he’s finally beaten those demons. “I don’t be messin’ with no hard core drugs no more. They messed with my head. Thank God that I got past that sickness, and back on the road to success. Of course I love what I do. Straight kickin’ it in a mansion, with a gang of hot women tryin’ to get at me? What’s not to love, man?…” For ticket availability for both gigs, go to brixton-academy.co.uk.