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