Public Enemy, LaRussell Bring High-Energy Performances To Stern Grove

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Hip-hop group Public Enemy and Vallejo rapper LaRussell opened the final weekend of San Francisco's Stern Grove Festival on Saturday with upbeat performances that bridged old-school rap and modern takes on hip-hop classics.

The Big Picnic Weekend culminated the summer-long festival, wrapping up its 89th year of free music for thousands of fans gathered among the meadow and trees in Sigmund Stern Grove.

"When this land was gifted to San Francisco, the task was that if you take this land, you have to provide free music to the community," LaRussell said. "And 90 years later, it's a bunch of people who are still holding that truth, still holding that promise, and that means something."

LaRussell, backed by the CO-LLAB Choir from Oakland, opened with his original track "Flavor." With moves including the "Thizzle Dance," he set the day's high-energy tone. He directed the crowd to sing along and, at one point, walked through the crowd and rapped among the audience.

"I'm just here to have a great time. I'm grateful and I'm honored to be here," he said.

Paying tribute to nostalgic rap by playing snippets of Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" and Mistah F.A.B.'s song "N.E.W Oakland," he alternated between mellow tracks with poetic lyrics and upbeat songs emphasizing local pride, particularly "I'm From the Bay."

He thanked Stern Grove for inviting him to perform after recently taking a break, saying, "I took like a three, four-month hiatus from social media and just the world. It feels so good to come back to love and my hometown ... Thank you guys for giving me the time, the space and the energy to be a human and express myself and share my art."

The audience expanded for Public Enemy, the 1980s-90s group fronted by Chuck D and Flavor Flav, known for politically charged themes and pro-Black messaging.

They opened with a lengthy guitar solo that pierced through the crowd, the band members standing onstage with fists in the air.

"Come on Bay Area, make some noise!" said Flavor Flav, wearing all-white, with his signature baseball cap tilted to the side. Chuck D joined him for "Harder Than You Think." Then came "Don't Believe the Hype," nostalgic songs like "Can't Truss It," "Welcome to the Terrodome," and "Shut 'Em Down."

The pioneering band played over two dozen tracks from its lengthy discography, also shouting out Bay Area rappers E-40, Too Short and MC Hammer.

"The Bay is the ingredient for hip-hop mastery around the planet," Chuck D said, pointing out that though Public Enemy's songs originally addressed U.S. political and social discourse in the late 20th century, their themes apply to modern times.

The group criticized President Donald Trump a few times, including performing the anti-Trump song "State of the Union (STFU)." And "911 Is a Joke" and "Bring the Noise" had fans way up on the hill of the natural amphitheater jumping.

Ending with "Fight the Power," Public Enemy encouraged everyone to speak out and fight against injustices.
"With peace and togetherness, we would all have so much power if we all stuck together and built a wall of unity," Flavor Flav said