Hip-hop icon, activist, and Public Enemy frontman Carlton Douglas Ridenhour—better known to the world as Chuck D—returned to Memphis last week, where he was honored with the inaugural “Reverb Award” presented by the Soulsville Foundation.
The award ceremony took place Friday, May 2 at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the very place where Chuck D stood back in 2003 during the museum’s grand opening. Now, more than two decades later, he stood on that same ground to accept an award that celebrates not just his legacy in music, but his lifelong commitment to using music as a tool for activism, education, and empowerment.
“Memphis is the center point of the world,” Chuck D said during his remarks. “You hit me with light, and I spread light.”
Presented by legendary Stax songwriter and producer David Porter, the award is part of the newly established Power of Music Honors—an initiative by the Soulsville Foundation to recognize individuals who carry on the spirit of Stax by using music to uplift and transform communities around the globe.
Soulsville Foundation CEO Pat Mitchell Worley described Chuck D as a “prism,” someone who amplifies messages of change, justice, and hope. “The Power of Music Honors is to recognize and lift up individuals and organizations who understand, like those legends of Stax Records, that music can be used to create and to build,” she said. “And that’s not just happening in studios and concert halls. It’s happening in clinics, classrooms, courtrooms and communities around the world.”
The event drew a crowd filled with Memphis music royalty, including soul legend Carla Thomas, former Stax publicity director Deanie Parker, Public Enemy bandleader and Memphis native Khari Wynn, and fellow Public Enemy member Flavor Flav.
Porter reflected on the significance of Chuck D’s birth year—1960, the same year Porter and Isaac Hayes were hustling on Beale Street trying to win $3 talent show prizes. “Here was a young man that was coming into existence that we had no idea would end up carrying the banner for the meanings of the songs and the messages we tried to put into our work,” he said.
Chuck D, who grew up listening to Stax, Motown, and Atlantic Records, later met Porter and Hayes—who honored him as an official “soul man,” a moment he describes as one of the most important of his life. He refers to them as his “musical godfathers.”
During his speech, he called on the world to give music the same cultural weight as sports. “When it comes to sports, the country’s going to move on it,” he said. “But where’s the music? When you dedicate at least half of that energy into music and you guide it, you get music that changes the world.”
The Soulsville Foundation plans for the Power of Music Honors to become an annual tradition, continuing to spotlight artists and leaders who carry forward Memphis’s soul legacy in impactful ways.
The celebration didn’t stop there. The next day, Public Enemy brought their legendary sound to the Riverbeat Music Festival at Tom Lee Park, reminding Memphis—and the world—why their message still matters.
