Words Are Enough: Dead Prez

If Chuck D is the elder statesman of political hip hop, then M-1 and stic.man of Dead Prez are its young and brash upstarts.

Dave Chappelle (whose show often uses the bass line from DP's "(Bigger Than) Hip Hop" introduces Dead Prez in Block Party through lyrics that quickly and accurately sum up the DP's perspective on politics:

The White House is the Rock House/ Uncle Sam is the muthafuckin' pusher man/ what do I gotta do make you understand?

If that's not controversial enough, in one track (later remixed with Jay-Z) Dead Prez openly advocate robbing a pizza delivery driver as a viable solution to monetary problems.

White boy in the wrong place at the right time/ soon as the car door open up he mine/ we roll up quick and put the pistol to his nose/ by the look on his face, he prolly shittin' in his clothes

But despite their occasionally blunt criminal convictions, much like Public Enemy, Dead Prez openly and inventively rail against contemporary power structures, going beyond diatribes to offer up instruction on combating the corrosive lifestyles.

Through winding and intricate rhyming, the duo stress the importance of such basics as good health,

They say you are what you eat, so I strive to eat healthy/ my goal in life is not to be rich or wealthy/ 'Cuz true wealth come from good health and wise ways/ We got to start taking better care of ourselves

and emotional connections:

When you show me your mind, it make me wanna show you mines/ Reflecting my light, when it shines, just takin' our time / Before the night's through, we could get physical too/ I ain't tryin' to say I don't wanna fuck, 'cause I do/ But for me boo, makin love is just as much mental/ I like to know what I'm gettin' into

Also like Chuck D, much of DP's virulence focuses on the media and music industry:

In the real world, these just people with ideas/ They just like me and you when the smoke and camera disappear / Again the real world, it's bigger than all these fake-ass records/ When poor folks got the millions and my woman's disrespected

and the emptiness of the music business, which has only grown more illusionary and destructive since the early Public Enemy albums:

What's on the radio, propaganda, mind control/ And turnin' it on is like puttin on a blindfold / 'Cuz when you bringin the real you don't get rotation/ Unless you take over the station/ And yeah I know it's part of they plans / To make us think it's all about party and dancin'/ And yo it might sound good when you spittin' your rap/ But in reality, don't nobody live like that

MC's get a little bit of love and think they hot/ Talkin' bout how much money they got/ All y'all records sound the same/ I'm sick of that fake thug, R&B, rap scenario, all day on the radio/ Same scenes in the video, monotonous material

Dead Prez's lyrics also extend past simply pointing out the ills of society and focus on self-improvement. With a line that could easily fit anywhere in the Public Enemy oeuvre, Dead Prez present their politics to listeners with simple choices:

You would rather have a Lexus or justice?/ A dream or some substance?/ A Beamer, a necklace — or freedom?

— Taylor Carik (taylor dot carik at gmail dot com)