Signed to a label (
Loud) notorious for its astute thug philosophers (
Wu-Tang,
Mobb Deep, and
Big Pun),
Dead Prez's empowering debut,
Lets Get Free, seems like a misplaced oddity. Yet the disputatious duo of
SticMan and
M1 would be an oddity on any label, as they shoulder the burden of revitalizing a genre (problack) which has been seemingly erased from the collective consciousness. Taking social activism to new heights,
Dead Prez are the most revolutionary
hip-hop group to emerge since
Public Enemy lost their audience and
N.W.A disbanded.
SticMan and
M1 chronicle a broad range of politically pressing issues which pertain to the black community -- from the inadequacies of inner-city public schooling (
"They Schools") to socially repressive bureaucracies (
"Police State"). But
Dead Prez are more then just agenda and rhetoric; the group's topical diversity is equally inspiring, seamlessly shifting from the mind-pillaging
"Psychology" into the conversational foreplay of
"Mind Sex." Yet it is
"Animal in Man" that best illustrates just how innovative this group can be. ~ Matt Conaway
