With arguably its best line-up ever, the Smokin' Grooves '98 tour is beginning to pick up steam as it heads towards scheduled stops in Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta.
But the success of the tour probably tastes sweetest to headliners Public Enemy, whose appearance grew out of the response the original members garnered when they reunited to record the soundtrack for Spike Lee's "He Got Game" film. "It's a wonderful thing," Chuck D told the MTV Radio Network of the Grooves '98 tour, "because you got three generations of hip-hop here. It's of the utmost respect, being honored by your peers and actually headlining the tour, and to be able to be here to serve like an ambassador to the groups and to help them join forces has been a great thing. I feel like Doctor J." Chuck D is currently at work on a book, entitled "The Anatomy Of A Rap Circus Within," which he says is a day-to-day diary from last year leading up to this summer's Smokin' Grooves, and the band plans to include live footage from the tour on its new official website, www.public-enemy.com, which launches on August 5.
