is a hip-hop duo from Tallahassee, Fla., that has built an intimidating reputation as militantly socialist, crime-supporting vegetarians.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect at their Summit Music Hall show Friday night. The iconic bass line from the introduction of “Chappelle’s Show” comes from the Dead Prez track “Hip-Hop” off of the 2000 album “Lets Get Free,” which many feel raised the fist of “rap activism” as left by Chuck D.
On their 2004 release, “RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta,” M-1 and Stic.man moved into much darker territory, condoning violent gun theft and portraying a carjacking, specifically against white people. As someone who recognizes the socioeconomic injustices of our top-heavy system, I have always appreciated the melding of politics and music as made famous by the likes of the Clash, Public Enemy and Bob Dylan. Though racially-targeted violence, even fictional, can be a challenge to appreciate.
So who goes to a Dead Prez show? Gangsters? Communists? 60’s-era revolutionaries?
Not really.
The moderate crowd of 150 or so racially-diverse people seemed more like traditional hip-hop fans than Black Panthers, aggressively handing out flyers for upcoming shows and selling homemade CDs rather than pushing political propaganda.
Once M-1 and Stic.man started the show with “Turn off the Radio” and “That’s War!” — the latter a call to arms against government, big business and major record labels — it seemed like the music’s content was going to be overwhelmed by the party atmosphere and huge, high-volume beats. Followed by “Hell Yeah,” a controversial number explaining the benefits of violent crime, it was clear that the drunken, dancing hip-hop fans related more to the feeling than the message.
Between songs, M-1 and Stic.man spoke on issues that varied from calling out President Barack Obama for holding Middle East peace talks at the White House while bombs are dropping on the West Bank, to Stic.man telling the audience the benefits of self-control and vegetarianism. They lost the crowd with a rather self-indulgent history of every album Dead Prez has ever “dropped,” but picked right back up with their most popular song, “Hip-Hop.”
All in all the show was less political than I expected, definitely less dangerous than I imagined, and really just a slightly-edgy good time. The songs were catchy, the content was provocative, and by night’s end Dead Prez did deliver a show that was bigger than hip-hop, but just a little.
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Jamie White is a Denver writer, musician and producer.
