Stewdio: The Naphic Grovel Artrilogy of Chuck D

With audacious style, Chuck D—activist and cofounder of Public Enemy—chronicles his personal life and American history as it unfolded during 2020 and early 2022 in this set of three thought-provoking illustrated diary volumes. Each drawn and hand-lettered scene presents a topic underscored by pithy and pertinent criticism. The first volume, “There’s a Poison Goin’ On” recaps spring 2020, when Chuck D and his Public Enemy cofounder, Flavor Flav, manufactured a feud to promote a new album and Covid-19 emerged. Volume two, “45 Daze of Red Octobot” records a mash-up of fall 2020 topics including “protests galore,” rumors that Melania Trump was using a body double for public events, and the billionaire-driven space race. Lastly, in “Datamber Mindpaper,” depictions of modern ills and oddities (everything from gun violence to a woman selling her farts) are interspersed with commentary on the administration of President Joe “Bye Don.” Criticism of the modern “screenager” is ubiquitous and climaxes with social media management tips. The work is rougher in places, with looser drawings and difficult-to-parse text that contrast with sections of sharper expressionist art. The organic form is the point, yet the message can muddy in the tangled watercolor and ink stylings. Still, this detailed cultural archive from a revered hip-hop artist will delight his fans with its reminder that “important cannot always be in the shadow of popular... it must fight.” (June)