In the late 80’s, Public Enemy brought a power and pride to hip-hop that made us believe we could take over the world. For years PE was regarded as the dominate force in hip-hop, and as phrases like “Fight The Power” and “Don’t Believe The Hype” flew off the tongues of the hip-hop nation we seriously felt like we could make a difference. This type of idealism carried on through classics like By Any Means Necessary, To The East Blackwards, One For All, Edutainment, and Soul Food. Sadly political idealism has seemed to taper off since the mid-nineties. Both Brand Nubian and PE made dope, political albums that were overlooked by the underground and commercial hip-hop worlds. Even the most serious idealistic hip-hoppers had to admit frustration after Goodie Mob’s latest joint spent ninety percent of itself reveling in booty beats and idiotic lyrics.
In late ’99 Mos Def brought us his astonishing solo debut and the commercial world saw again how powerful and beautiful this art can be. While Black On Both Sides was a wonderful deep masterpiece, Mos’s lyrics are usually more personal than political. Nonetheless Mos opened the door for political thought and idealism to return to hip-hop. Months later Dead Prez’s debut Let’s Get Free knocks the motherfucker off it’s hinges. From its brilliant intro all the way through it’s violent conclusion this album holds an unwavering political and personal idealism that would inspire even the most jaded listener.
The first song after the intro is a brilliant, energetic, track entitled “Africa.” This track features M-1 saying “I’m an African/ never was an African-American/” and is governed by that statement all the way through. This is followed by the most controversial joint on the album, “They Schools,” which focuses on how poorly African-American youth are served by the public school system. The group has already taken some criticism because this track features a speech by Stic-Man, which advocates dropping out of public schools that only to teach youth to serve the capitalist system they are exploited by. The next few tracks continue this radical, revolutionary lyricism perfectly, until Mind Sex ushers in a break from this vibe. Along with Be Healthy this song is one of the few topical diversions. These songs are usually the weaker joints, but are by no means wack, and well worth a few listens.
The most amazing stretch of music begins about 3/5 through the album, with the amazing, six-minute odyssey, “Psychology”. This gem begins “My mind is the place where I make my plans/ The earth is the place where I take my stand/.” From there, M-1 and Stic-Man drop some ill rhymes over one of the albums best beats. Next up is the albums best non-political joint, “Happiness,” which showcases lyrics of simple pleasures over simple yet somber track full of flutes and strings. The song evokes the same sort of tempered satisfaction and optimism as Louis Armstrong’s classic What a Wonderful World. After this, we are hit with the daunting genius of “Animal In Man.” This masterpiece interpolates the story of George Orwell’s Animal Farm for brilliant commentary on the nature of revolutionaries and revolution. This song is what makes the rest of the album great, because it shows that they have thought their revolutionary ideas through.
The gem of the last section of the album is Propaganda, a song that attacks the media over a melodic track. The song utilizes a beautiful song intro; “Telling lies to our children/ Telling lies to our babies/ Only truth can take us away.” Stic-Man follows this with the most poignant one-liner on the album, “You can’t fool all of the people all of the time/ but if you fool the right ones then the rest will fall behind/.” It is this type of lyrical insight that makes the album as amazing as it is. The album’s only flaw is placing the weaker remix of the hit single “Hip-Hop,” “It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop,” on the at the end of the album. This version lacks the rowdy strength of the single and comes off very gratuitous.
Despite this minor flaw the album is an overwhelmingly powerful debut. The best major-label debut for a group since Goodie dropped their brilliant opus in 1995. Let’s Get Free may be the most consistently political album since the very early ‘90s. And shockingly the album appears to have a very good chance at commercial success. The video of “Hip-Hop” has received airplay on MTV and BET, and Dead Prez, who are already known for amazing live performances, are set to begin a major tour promoting the album in March. Whether the album is commercially successful or not, Dead Prez has successfully brought politics back to hip-hop with a masterful debut, that would be a welcome addition to any record collection. So on March 14th, pull out your red, black and green clothing, your medallions, and your clenched fists and take your ass to the record store.
-Sayre Piotrkowski
