Dead Prez (stylized in lowercase) is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo composed of M-1 and stic.man, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, and

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...

. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.

Career

Background (1993–2000)

In 1993, M-1 headed to

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

, to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) where he and stic.man met and formed a relationship due to their mutual love of music and similar

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

political ideology. While there, their views solidified, M-1 becoming particularly interested in the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

. M-1 joined the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement in Chicago for three years, while stic.man remained in Florida. Burned out by the arduous labor of Uhuru, M-1 and stic.man chose to focus on music. Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar discovered them in New York City and signed them a deal with Loud Records. Although dead prez was not always Loud's top priority, they built a fan base due to their over-the-top performances (they have been known to ignite dollar bills and toss apples into the audiences, declaring that they must eat healthy). They had begun contributing songs to film soundtracks and made featurings on high-profile albums. Their first recorded song, "The Game of Life (Score)" appeared on the 1997 soundtrack to the film '' Soul in the Hole''. In 1998 their song "D.O.P.E. (Drugs Oppress People Everyday)" was featured in the movie '' Slam''. Also in 1998, they were featured on the skit "The Rain and the Sun" off

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

's album ''

Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

'', and in 1999 were featured on The Beatnuts' song "Look Around" off their album '' Musical Massacre''.

Releases (2000–present)

The duo's debut album was 2000's '' Let's Get Free'', with their most popular single to date "

Hip-Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

". The album was well received by critics, and included intense political monologues featuring prominent black activist Omali Yeshitela, as well as "Animal in Man" – a retelling of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

''. The instrumental version of their song "Hip Hop" was used as

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

's entrance music for his show on Comedy Central, and can be heard on every episode. "Hip Hop" has also been featured on the soundtrack of the video game skate. as well as underground graffiti art documentaries of the era. The song is also used in the introduction of ''Hip Hop Evolution'', a show which is currently on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2001 they collaborated with

The Coup The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned politica ...

, another politically active hip hop outfit, to release ''Get Up''. In 2002, dead prez contributed to '' Red Hot + Riot'', a compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

. The money raised by the CD was used for various charities devoted to raising AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. They collaborated with fellow hip-hop artists

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

and Bilal and Brazilian singer Jorge Ben to remake the famous Fela Kuti song "Shuffering and Shmiling" for the album. Also in 2002, dead prez released the independent mix tape '' Turn off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1'', followed by the release of ''Turn off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 2: Get Free or Die Tryin'' in 2003. Also in 2003, their song "Hell Yeah" was featured in the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. In 2004,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

finally released '' Revolutionary But Gangsta''. They were featured in the film '' Dave Chappelle's Block Party'', in 2006. In 2006, they and former

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

collaborators, the

Outlawz Outlawz was an American hip-hop group founded by Tupac Shakur and Yafeu Fula in 1995. Originally known as Thoro Headz and Young Thugs, the group attracted attention with their appearance on Tupac's song "Flex", which was the B-side of his singl ...

, jointly released two new albums: '' Can't Sell Dope Forever'' and '' Soldier 2 Soldier''. In 2006, M1 also recorded a solo album titled '' Confidential''. From the album, the song "'Til We Get There" was on the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

video game '' NBA Live 07''. In 2007, stic.man released his own solo record named ''

Manhood A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fath ...

'' with Boss Up Inc. / Traffic records. M-1 further appeared with ProfessorD.us, of the politically charged Hip Hop group The Dope Poet Society, on the track "Everything's Political" off the 2008 album ''THIRD WORLD WARriors Vol. 1''. On the track, M-1 and ProfessorD.us trade verses in response to the question "why is your music always so political?". That same year, Stic.Man appeared on "Changing Weather", the first single from Marcel Cartier's album ''Revolutionary Minded 2''. Dead prez released a mixtape entitled ''Pulse of the People: Turn Off Your Radio Vol. 3'' on June 23, 2009. The mixtape is hosted by

DJ Green Lantern James Christopher D'Agostino (born July 7, 1975), professionally known as DJ Green Lantern, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by American rapper Eminem, to become the official DJ for ...

. On

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

2010, dead prez released "The Beauty Within", a remix of B.o.B and

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

' #1 single " Nothin' On You."thatsthatish.com: dead prez – "The Beauty Within"
/ref> Additionally in 2010, dead prez released a mixtape with

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

entitled ''Turn Off the Radio Vol. 4: Revolutionary but Gangsta Grillz''. The album is available for free download on their website, and they announced this release was their ten year commemoration of their most well known and commercially successful album '' Let's Get Free''. The new album ''Information Age'' was released on October 16, 2012.

Documentary (2006)

In June 2006, the cable movie network Starz InBlack began airing an original documentary called ''Dead Prez: It's Bigger Than Hip Hop'' directed by John Threat. The hour-long documentary featured live footage and interviews with dead prez, along with interviews from Kamel Bell, owner of Ankh Marketing and son of incarcerated

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

member Herman Bell; Fred Hampton Jr., son of Black Panther Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Chapter Fred Hampton; Bay Area rapper and poet Ise Lyfe, and hip hop activist and radio personality Davey D. Among the topics discussed in the documentary are the inadequacies of the public education system, Black entrepreneurship and social revolution. M1 stated:

We've never had the opportunity to express ourselves on this level of magnitude. Starz InBlack taking a chance on us lets us know that the work we are doing is not in vain. That our message is penetrating, it's getting through.The 'revolution will be televised' as Starz InBlack presents 'Dead Prez: It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop.
''Frost Illustrated.'' Retrieved through web archive on December 6, 2007.

Discography

Studio albums *2000: '' Let's Get Free'' *2004: '' Revolutionary But Gangsta'' *2012: ''

Information Age The Information Age is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology ...

'' Live albums *2008: ''Live in San Francisco'' Collaboration albums *2006: '' Can't Sell Dope Forever'' (with

) Mixtapes *2002: '' Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1'' (as dpz) *2003: ''Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 2: Get Free or Die Tryin *2009: '' Pulse of the People: Turn Off the Radio Vol. 3'' (hosted by

) *2010: ''Turn Off the Radio Vol. 4: Revolutionary but Gangsta Grillz'' (hosted by

)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control African-American musical duos American hip-hop duos American socialists Musical duos from New York (state) American Maoists Far-left politics in the United States Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Tallahassee, Florida Underground hip-hop groups American political music groups American male musical duos 1996 establishments in Florida American anti-fascists New York (state) socialists Florida socialists