Mutulu Olugbala (born Lavonne Alford, July 25, 1975), better known by his stage name M-1 (sometimes stylized as M1), is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, songwriter, and activist from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He is best known for his work as one half of the

political hip hop Political hip hop (also known as political rap and conscious hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the 1980s as a form of political expression and activism. It typically addresses sociopolitical issues through lyrics, aiming t ...

duo

dead prez Dead Prez (stylized in lowercase) is an American hip hop 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, self-de ...

with

stic.man Khnum Muata Ibomu (born Clayton Gavin, March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name stic.man and more recently as stic, is an American rapper, music producer, activist and author known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead ...

Career

M-1's first solo album, ''

Confidential Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise sometimes executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access to or places restrictions on the distribution of certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, law ...

,'' credited to "Dead Prez Presents M-1," was released on March 21, 2006, through Sotti/Koch Records. The album also had one of its songs, "'til We Get There" on the EA Sports game NBA Live 2007 in the tracklist. Following ''Confidential'' M-1 worked on the album '' Can't Sell Dope Forever'' by Dead Prez &

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 ...

. M-1 had the lead role in ''Broken Rhyme'', a 2006 American 90-minute feature film and drama directed and produced by Detdrich McClure about a disillusioned rapper who goes to Japan to shoot a video there and encounters a mysterious Japanese woman who leads him on a spiritual journey and the heavy price he has to pay for turning his back on the forces that run the hip-hop music industry. The film premiered at the Filmlife and HBO American Black Film Festival in June 2006 as an Official Selection. M-1 is also featured in the UK documentary, '' Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word''. M-1 is also a political activist for many black and left-wing causes. In July 2009, M-1 accompanied the

Viva Palestina Viva Palestina ("Long live Palestine") is a British-based organisation formerly registered as a charity.David Ainswort"Commission removes Galloway's Viva Palestina from the charities register" ''Third Sector'', 5 November 2013 The body came in ...

convoy, delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. In 2010, M-1 was featured on British-Palestinian rapper

Shadia Mansour Shadia Mansour (; born 1985), also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" See also is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in Arabic and English. Much of her music revolves around Middle Eastern politics. Biography Early life ...

's single "Al Kufiyyeh 3arabeyyeh" ("The

Keffiyeh The keffiyeh (), also regionally known as a hattah (), ghutrah (), or shemagh (), is a traditional headdress worn by men from parts of the Middle East. It is fashioned from a square scarf, and is usually made of cotton. The keffiyeh is commonly ...

is Arabian") in her response to the "Israeli Keffiyah", an attempt by Zionists to rebrand the garment as an Israeli attire. M-1 is a co-founder of Urban Aroma, "a platform for cannabis, art, activism and social equity with editorial and charitable commitments."

Discography

Solo albums *2006: ''

'' Collaboration albums *2011: ''AP2P – All Power to the People'' (with Bonnot) *2013: ''Evolutionary Minded (Furthering the Legacy of Gil Scott-Heron)'' (with Kentyah, Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band) *2016: ''Between Me and the World'' (with Bonnot)

Filmography

*1999: ''Whiteboyz'' *2001: ''

Brooklyn Babylon ''Brooklyn Babylon'' is a 2001 film written and directed by Marc Levin, and a modern retelling of the Song of Songs, Song of Solomon, set against the backdrop of the Crown Heights riot, starring Black Thought of The Roots. Plot summary In Brookl ...

'' *2006: '' Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word'' as himself (documentary) *2006: ''Broken Rhyme'' as himself (feature film)IMDb: ''Broken Rhyme'' with M-1 in a lead role in the film
/ref> *2012: ''Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal'' as himself (documentary)

Videography

*2006: "Till We Get There" feat. Stori James and K'naan

References

External links

M-1
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:M-1 1977 births Living people African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers East Coast hip-hop musicians Rappers from Brooklyn Rappers from Florida American socialists American pan-Africanists Hip-hop activists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians