Dead Prez Albums (2)
'RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta'
Release Date 3/30/2004
Tracks 21
Label Sony
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Though their methods aren't subtle, Dead Prez are as intelligent and philosophical a group of social activists as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions -- it's just that their philosophies stray more to the Geto Boys style of extreme criminal fantasies. RBG stands for Revolutionary But Gangsta, a stance that the Dead Prez duo Stic and M1 back up with tale after lurid tale of inner-city life. They're showing their listeners how to strive and how to survive, whether it means scamming welfare or credit cards for all they're worth ("Hell Yeah [Pimp the System]"), decrying the messages of commercial radio ("Radio Freq"), or dreaming of responding to organized violence with a police-station drive-by. They're not without a sense of humor ("F***ed Up" is a cautionary alcoholic's tale that prompts the line, "Let's make a toast to my liver and my kidneys"), but without clear lines between fact and fantasy, it's impossible to tell where the group is attempting to educate and where they're attempting to entertain. (Chuck D and KRS-One knew well not to confront their listeners with every track they wrote.) Jay-Z stops by for a rhyme on a remix of "Hell Yeah (Pimp the System)," but even he sounds constrained (and understandably so) by the subject matter. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Signed to a label (Loud) notorious for its astute thug philosophers (Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and Big Pun), Dead Prez's empowering debut, Lets Get Free, seems like a misplaced oddity. Yet the disputatious duo of SticMan and M1 would be an oddity on any label, as they shoulder the burden of revitalizing a genre (problack) which has been seemingly erased from the collective consciousness. Taking social activism to new heights, Dead Prez are the most revolutionary hip-hop group to emerge since Public Enemy lost their audience and N.W.A disbanded. SticMan and M1 chronicle a broad range of politically pressing issues which pertain to the black community -- from the inadequacies of inner-city public schooling ("They Schools") to socially repressive bureaucracies ("Police State"). But Dead Prez are more then just agenda and rhetoric; the group's topical diversity is equally inspiring, seamlessly shifting from the mind-pillaging "Psychology" into the conversational foreplay of "Mind Sex." Yet it is "Animal in Man" that best illustrates just how innovative this group can be. ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
