Flavor Flav is speaking to ET after his scary near-death experience on Tuesday when a falling boulder nearly crushed him while he was driving.
The incident happened as the 62-year-old Public Enemy rapper was driving on La Tuna Canyon and heavy rain caused a boulder to fall down the cliffside. The boulder hit the right side of his vehicle, totaling it. His rep noted to ET that “if Flav had just been a few feet in another direction, the boulder would’ve killed him.”
On Wednesday, Flav told ET’s Kevin Frazier that he was grateful to still be alive and recalled the frightening incident.
“I was driving through the canyon and I didn’t know there were falling rocks, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “I seen a lot of rocks in the street and everything and I said, ‘OK, there’s some falling rocks here.’ But there was no sign saying falling rocks or anything like that, you know? And as I’m driving, Kevin, all I see is this big giant object coming across my windshield and then it hit the street. And as soon as this boulder hit the street on the right side of my car, the rock grazed my car.”
“I was going maybe 36 miles per hour when that boulder came down in front of my car,” he continued. “If I was doing like, 42, 43 miles per hour that would’ve pushed me up a few seconds earlier, that boulder would have crushed the hood and the windshield of my car. I mean, God is good. God wasn’t ready for me, Kev. I think he wanted for me to sit here with you and be talking about it.”
Flav said that as soon as the boulder hit, he immediately tried to get out of the way and drove away in fear because he didn’t know if there were more boulders dropping. He continues to be haunted by the shocking incident, though he is doing his best to get past it.
“I’m still traumatized, bro. I’m seeing flashbacks like crazy right now,” he said. “When I went to go to sleep last night, all I kept seeing was that big rock falling in front of my car, man. The only thing I could do for myself is try to leave it in the past now, just move forward because I’m grateful to be here. … I feel like a cat that just got another life.”
On a happier note, Flav is proud of being one year sober and has new music coming out. He’s coming out with a solo album — and shared that he has a song with Snoop Dogg and E-40 — as well as producing the next Public Enemy album. He’s also working on a residency in Las Vegas and a documentary with Mark Wahlberg’s production company.
“I got eight cuts done right now, I got two more to go because I’m only putting 10 on the album,” he revealed of the upcoming Public Enemy album. “And I ain’t gonna lie. I’m coming with some heat, and boy, do I have me and Chuck D sounding like Public Enemy.”
As for if Public Enemy will continue its legacy of addressing important issues and current events in the culture, he shared, “We are still the CNN of the streets.”
When talking about his documentary, he reflected on his lasting influence on rap music.
“They’ll learn the reason why rap music is the way that it is,” he said about what fans can expect. “The reason rap music is the way that it is is because a guy like me started a lot of the things that a lot of rappers are doing today, you know what I’m saying? A lot of things that the rappers are doing, it’s Flav all over but just on steroids.”
