Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has a couple of positive things to say about modern rappers.

He believes they are generally wiser than their peers of rap's early years with regard to business matters. And he feels that beneath their public gangsta fronts lurks a real desire to properly represent the hip-hop community.

The latter is a goal not unlike the one Public Enemy strived for in its late-1980s heyday. That was when it put out two of the greatest albums of all time back-to-back (1988's "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and 1990's "Fear of a Black Planet"), lit a militant bonfire under the collective posteriors of the political establishment with its views and became rap legends in the process.

"The bad aspect is that in order for artists to get some kind of power footing, they kind of go beyond the call of duty to try to aspire to the wants and needs of their record company and contractual obligations to gain that power," Chuck D said by phone from a Public Enemy tour stop in Taipei, Taiwan.

"And that's problematic because back in the day, you had artists who strove to be different and carve their own private Idaho and their own niche ... just to push the envelope.

"And a lot of times these days, you've got artists that strive to be similar."

The reason, according to Chuck? Short-term, shortsighted goals of becoming rich, famous and holding on to that first record deal for dear life. A problem beyond that is artists refusing to say anything relevant in their music once they do gain some power.

"When it comes down to 50 Cent or Nelly, their music sometimes doesn't fully reflect their interviews. Same thing with Eminem," said Chuck. "(They're) smart guys. (They're) real good guys. They're not gangstas or any of those types of guys. They're rappers. And if you're gonna really say what you feel, then say everything that you feel."

The 45-year-old Chuck paused and laughed.

"It's not bad to be a good guy."

Public Enemy plays its first Honolulu concert since 1988 today at what's being billed as the inaugural Hawaii Hip-Hop Festival. Returning are founding members Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Professor Griff (once famously fired from the group for spouting widely reported anti-Semitic remarks) and the Security of the First World dance troupe.

Public Enemy regrouped earlier this year after a self-imposed 18-month hiatus from touring. The break found Chuck D, among other things: preaching the modern-day state of hip-hop on college campuses; starting his own independent label, Slamjamz; hosting an Air America talk show called "Unfiltered"; planning a trilogy of new Public Enemy works; and negotiating a contract with Universal Records for the re-release of its entire Def Jam music and video catalog.

Comic foil sidekick Flavor Flav, meanwhile, used his time off wooing scary blonde giant Brigitte Nielsen on the VH1 reality shows "The Surreal Life" and "Strange Love." The latter show all but reveled in portraying Flavor as a miserly father of six children birthed by two women; at one point even showing one of his daughters sporting a T-shirt reading "Winning Against Deadbeat Dads."

Chuck's only comment on his longtime partner's recent antics was to separate them from Public Enemy's continuing group mission of giving voice to unaddressed social concerns, particularly in the black community.

"That's Flavor Flav as an individual," Chuck said of his friend's participation in both series. "At the end of the day, Flavor's still a black man that has to answer to his family and his community."

The goals Chuck still wants to see Public Enemy reach as a collective are far more important to him.

"As far as men, as far as a community, we want our people to actually not be (expletive) over," said Chuck, his famous baritone more calm and fatherly than angry and defiant. "Africa is being decimated. People of color around the planet are being decimated and misused.

"There's war in the world. And the president of the United States is pretty much callous to the young deaths that are taking place for reasons that are still uncertain to the rest of the planet, have detached America from the rest of the planet, (and are) based on an elitist ... and not a popular point of view.

"With all that's going on, you want to be able, as musicians, to transcend the hype and say something that reaches people. Let somebody else write the laws. And let us be able to write the songs that actually reach the souls and hearts of people."

"New Whirl Odor," the first of three new Public Enemy CDs being released over the next year, will be out in October to coincide with the Millions More March on Washington, D.C. "Power to the People and the Beats," Public Enemy's first group-approved "best of" collection, debuted on Billboard's Top 200 album chart at No. 69 last week.

In April, "Fear of a Black Planet" was added to the National Recording Registry of 150 culturally, historically or aesthetically significant sound recordings, compiled by the Library of Congress.

Eighteen years after setting out to redefine the parameters of what was then considered, at best, a passing musical fad, Chuck was low-key proud of Public Enemy's role in furthering the pointed dialogue that made hip-hop and rap a full-blown multicultural movement.

"It's important for the genre to have spokespeople," said Chuck. "I come from a background where I was encouraged as a young black man to stand up straight and speak for the people ... trying to build an aspect of us with some pride and some kind of intellectual standing. At the same time, I was raised to be a man. So I don't have to back down for anything.

"I'm gonna come out and say what I have to say. Not to step on any toes. But to step on a plateau that actually puts us in the right forum. Hip-hop needs to protect itself ... and also govern and police itself as well."

Chuck would prefer young rappers think of the future of the genre and everyone in it, rather than just their own.

"This music business, where everybody has the mentality of making a killing in business, is diametrically opposed to people making a living in the music business. So you try to balance it out with some commonality and some sense.

"It's as simple as that."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.