What's happening beautiful people?! This twentieth anniversary salute goes to a duo who's debut album invoked images of legendary albums such as It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Fear Of A Black Planet, Straight Outta Compton, and Steal This Album due to themes of Black empowerment, socio-econimic divisions, the education system, health/wellness, and of course police brutality. After first making their presence felt on the AWESOME Soul In The Hole soundtrack for their track "Score (Game Of Life)" and the n again the enxt year on the Slam soundtrack with the stellar "Selling D.O.P.E.", it was time these two Tallahassee, Fl-turned-Brooklyn residents to deliver their message to the masses, and did they ever. It remains one of the most underappreciated debut albums in modern hip-hop. This salute goes to dead prez and their stunning debut album, Let's Get Free.
From the onset, you see the ever controversial cover art of the OSPAAAL Tricontental Conference, as well as the back cover art of a man who's back was horrifically decimated by getting presumably whipped. You already have a sense that you know what type pf ride you're about to be on. The key to m-1 and stic.man is that both emcees present militant and conscious rhymes that aren't overtly preachy. In fact, they still bring some street elements to them as well, which makes this more relatable to those on the corners or in the prisons that want emcees that they can relate to while getting educated as well. The intro alone is worth the listen, as it's a monologue by Omali Yeshitela of the Uhuru Movement ( do yourself a favor kids. Research and Google the Uhuru Movement for a sincere education in African liberation worldwide). From there, it transitions into "I'm am African", a rallying cry of sorts reminding people (Black people) of their ancestry. We are pretty familiar with the sickeningly bouncy first single "Hip-Hop" and its message of not allowing these corporations to restructure the culture. We may also be familiar with the hypnotic and slightly seductive "Mind Sex", which is an ode to loving your mate's mind as well as their body. The rest of the album is as pro-Black and afro-centric as any album we've ever been blessed to hear.
The uncomfortable realities from cuts such as "Police State", "Psychology", and "They Schools" are unsettling, but they end up being such intriguing listens as they shoot right between the eyes with facts and images of struggle, socio-ecominc inequalities, and oppression. Also, other topics such as media irresponsibility and mistrust on "Propaganda", the prison system on "Behind Enemy Lines", and how we're look at as savages on "Animal In Mind" are so vital to the central theme of this album of liberation and afro-centric education. While an album like this would've been more iconic during the conscious rap period of the early nineties, this album is especially relevant in today's times. This isn't fluff, sugarcoated material, or something to ignore. What m-1 and stic.man managed to do was to grab you by the throat and knock some sense into your heads about how much further we as a people and a community have to go. Over mostly ominous yet nonetheless excellent production, DPz presented an essential look at the world we live in and how it still really hasn't changed.
While they presented a couple follow-ups in the slightly more accessible yet still in credible RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta and Information Age, as well as a few mixtapes (especially the Turn Off The Radio series), Let's Get Free remains their holy grail and the main album that presented their message with complete power and vigor to wake the socially and culturally dead. In this Trump era, this album is even more important than it was when it was released for obvious reasons. We than stic.man and m-1 for an album explosive enough to cause another red, black, and green movement. For these things and more, we salute dead prez for an unforgettable job well done. Until next time!
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