“The Public Enemy mastermind combines art and hip-hop rhymes to provide his compelling, personal views on the chaotic years between 2020 and 2022. Though they often feel like diary entries, each installment has an overarching storyline and theme . . . In an engaging, distinctly hip-hop style, Chuck D reveal important lessons from the early pandemic years.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

“From Chuck D bearing his heart and soul in a new trilogy to Jason Derulo revealing his 15 rules to succeeding in life, there are so many good books by Black authors to discover this June. Dive into these 10 reads . . . This box set of three full-color paperback bound books is an engaging time capsule capturing the thoughts and artwork Chuck D created from the start of COVID-19 through the first year of the Biden administration. The co-founder and front man of legendary hip hop group Public Enemy unleashes his commentary on contemporary events with the activist instinct that made the hip hop pioneers a social message phenomenon.” —Ebony

“Chuck D’s excellent STEWdio (yes, Chuck D of Public Enemy) is a literal diary of stray thoughts, three books of them, in a box—and some of the most compelling reading I’ve done this year. In one-page panels recalling a meld of eighth grade homeroom sketches and the exuberantly unstable lines of Basquiat, Chuck offers portraits of collaborators, tales of loss and quarantine, nights huddled before cable news.” —Chicago Tribune

“Chuck D is an artist. And we don’t just mean a musical artist, although the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has certainly made his mark in that field . . . The rap legend is an actual artist as well—always has been. He studied graphic design as a college student at Adelphi University in the 1980s before his wildly successful musical career took center stage as Public Enemy became international superstars. Chuck D has returned to his artistic roots with the recent release of STEWdio: The Naphic Grovel ARTrilogy of Chuck D, out now through Enemy, a new imprint of Akashic books curated by Chuck D. He began the trilogy of journals in 2020, just as COVID-19 was starting to take hold in the country and a new presidential election was on the horizon. The books offer not only a vivid window into Chuck D’s art, but also a look back at a nation in crisis, and the daily musings of a revolutionary observer.” —Entertainment Weekly

“From around the start of COVID-19 in early 2000 to late 2022, Chuck D drew his way through those immensely challenging years. The result, STEWdio: The Naphic Grovel ARTrilogy of Chuck D, is three volumes of one-hundred-plus, one-page drawings. Each drawing is not only art but serves as part diary, part time capsule, and part activism . . . Chuck D’s style can be described as neo-expressionistic, with images and text often intertwined (not entirely unlike famed graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, for example). Chuck D’s lines can be lively and kinetic, and sometimes frenetic . . . The art is consistently good . . . In sum, this is a welcome new facet to a storied career. It is undoubtedly a must-have for serious fans of Chuck D and Public Enemy, and it can also be strongly recommended for anyone who wants to see interesting artwork from this period and through some fresh and unique eyes.” —PopMatters

“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 . . . this detailed cultural archive from a revered hip-hop artist will delight his fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In June, he will publish a graphic novel trilogy called STEWdio, a huge three-volume hardback affair about Covid and current affairs that he hoists up to show me. With typical punning wordplay, he calls them ‘naphic grovels.’” —Financial Times

“The founder of Public Enemy uses hip-hop rhymes and art to express his persuasive, in-depth opinions about the turbulent years between 2020 and 2022.” —Comic Crusaders

“I always knew Chuck D had a strong visual sense . . . But only in the last few years did I find out how passionate Chuck was about caricature and cartooning as an artistic expression . . . Now everyone can see how PE’s leader blends his visual art and activism in a collection of graphic diaries, STEWdio: The Naphic Grovel ARTrilogy of Chuck D.”
—Nelson George, author of Hip Hop America