Public Enemy has been making headlines for less than favorable news as of late. The iconic rap group was reportedly at odds over a performance that was to be held at a Bernie Sanders rally. After it was announced that Public Enemy would be taking to the stage, Flavor Flav came forward to denounce the show. A war of words between members Chuck D and Flav ensued, and news was shared that Flav was no longer in the group.

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The exchange between the longtime friends and collaborators came off as bizarre to fans who couldn’t believe that they were breaking down, but Chuck D told People’s Party with Talib Kweli that it was all staged to prove a point. “The murder of Pop Smoke, man, to see that, it was like the flashback to Nipsey Hussle last year,” Chuck D said. “It got to be like, do rappers need to be killed to get noticed in hip hop? And this whole thing  of bad news is the news and making people like—my daughter Dominique, who runs my company, she’s often like, ‘Dad, that’s not a good look.’ And I’m like when the f*ck does the good look get acknowledged because the bad look got an elevator and a rocket to it.”

So, because Flavor Flav has been taking a few hits in the media lately and his “stock was low”, they concocted a storyline that would grab the attention of the masses. “Flav doesn’t know the difference between Bernie Sanders, Barry Sanders, or Colonel Sanders. He don’t give a f*ck,” Chuck D joked. He explained how they came up with the plan behind the scenes. “I’m not saying it’s a hoax. I’m saying the original intention was to get your attention and not play attention, get you to pay attention.”

Flav can’t be fired, anyway, because Chuck says “he’s a partner.” Listen to Chuck D speak about the importance of Flav in Public Enemy and explain his plot below.