Public Enemy Parts Ways With Flavor Flav

The Hall of Famers issued a brief statement saying they will be "moving forward" without their hype man: "We thank him for his years of service and wish him well."

Flavor Flav and Public Enemy have parted ways.

It’s not entirely clear how and why the split came about, but there’s no doubt who is calling the shots. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers issued a brief statement to announce Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be “moving forward” without their hype man. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.”

And that’s about it.

The diminutive rapper has played a massive role in shaping hip-hop culture. In 1980s New York City, Flav (real name William Drayton) joined forces up with Chuck D, Terminator X and Professor Griff to launch Public Enemy, a take-no-crap hip-hop act that inspired countless others to fuse politics with fiery wordplay.

Public Enemy lit the blue touch paper with their 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, which was entered by the Recording Academy into its Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2013, their first year of eligibility, Public Enemy were inducted into the Rock Hall, becoming just the fourth hip-hop act to get the nod, following Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys.

Flav's relationship with his bandmates took a legal turn when he reportedly issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bernie Sanders’ campaign following news that Chuck D would perform at the Democratic candidate’s rally Sunday in Los Angeles.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Chuck D said of Flav, “Flavor chooses to dance for his money and not do benevolent work like this. He has a year to get his act together and get himself straight or he’s out.”

Time’s already up, judging by the statement issued late Sunday on behalf of Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio.

The message continues, “Public Enemy Radio, made up of Chuck D, DJ Lord, Jahi and the S1Ws taking it back to hip hop’s original DJ-and-turntablist foundation, will be performing today at the Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles. The free event is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning at 4:00pm PT with the group taking the stage at 6:00pm PT. It can be viewed via livestream HERE. Public Enemy Radio will be releasing a new album in April, ‘Loud is Not Enough.’”

This story first appeared on Billboard.com.