Professor Griff (real name Richard Griffin) is a rapper, producer, DJ, author, and spoken word artist known for being a member of the group Public Enemy. As the group’s former “Minister of Information,” he researched topics for Public Enemy frontman Chuck D to write about. He also served as the group’s road manager.

Griff had a brush with infamy in 1989 when, in an interview with journalist David Mills of the Washington Post, he allegedly made the anti-Semitic statement, “Jews are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world.” His statement caused “one of the massive shitstorms in rap, ever,” and he was subsequently fired from Public Enemy.

Professor Griff eventually returned to Public Enemy in 1998, and has since provided the occasional guest verse and supervised the group’s albums as an executive producer.