Chuck D Raps For Napster

Public Enemy's Chuck D's hip-hop Web site rapstation.com has teamed with embattled MP3 file-swapping software company Napster to offer fans a unique contest opportunity. Visitors to the site can download the instrumental "Power To The People And The Beats" -- based on Public Enemy's "Power To The People" -- and add their own Napster-themed lyrics to the track.

The new track can then be uploaded back to the site before the May 14 contest deadline. The winning song, which will be chosen via online voting during the week of May 15, will be posted as a free download on the rapstation site.

"We want to draw attention to the positive aspects that Napster has to offer artists," Chuck D said in a statement. "They need to realize that they can benefit infinitely from what it has to offer."

Other artists beg to differ, particularly Metallica and Dr. Dre, who are both currently suing Napster for copyright infringement. However, Limp Bizkit last week tapped Napster as the sponsor for its free summer tour, expected to begin in Chicago on July 4.

"We're aware that our fans use Napster. We wanted to do a free tour, and they stepped up," said Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who is also a senior VP at Interscope Records. The tour is the topic of this week's Billboard Online poll question.

Chuck D has long been an advocate of the Internet's benefits to artists. In late 1998, Public Enemy split from longtime label Def Jam in a flap over music downloads. The band then signed with Internet label Atomic Pop to release the album "There's A Poison Going On."