July 08, 2003 @ 3:01 pm

Dead Prez - Revolutionary But Gangsta (Columbia)

Hua Hsu

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The dead prez enterprise can be reduced to one question: Are you down? For the rap duo of M-1 and stic.man, being “down” requires an unapologetic embrace of their stiff, us-against-them politics.

The dead prez enterprise can be reduced to one question: Are you down? For the rap duo of M-1 and stic.man, being “down” requires an unapologetic embrace of their stiff, us-against-them politics. Their second major-label release doesn’t exactly complicate this logic, but it’s a refreshing alternative to the rampant materialists and the pie-in-the-sky dreamers who sit at opposite ends of hip hop realness. “If you claimin’ gangsta, then bang on the system and show that you ready to ride,” they offer on the pimp-The-Man anthem “Hell Yeah.” Where their debut politicized accessible thug beats, much of the production here replaces that immediacy with a more meditative, introspective vibe. The fluttering “W-4” suggests a slow jam, until stic.man’s impassioned lament for working-class uplift kicks in. “Walk Like a Warrior” gracefully unfurls the twosome’s “revolutionary but gangsta” ideology in front of cautionary violins. Despite their occasionally messy ethics and knee-jerk rhetoric, we salute dead prez for being down for something at a time when anything goes.

Article tags: Dead, Prez, Revolutionary, But, Gangsta, Columbia 

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