Now let me state exactly why i like Dead Prez... i know a lot of white folks look at them as being racist... I mean... i feel what they are saying... i really do... I feel the same way they do about the government.
I dont really care if they dont like white people to tell the truth... they dont try and kill the white folks that buy there cd's... they dont have a problem with white folks at there shows... its more about them not liking how white folks run this country and destroy black folks... thats real shit.So is Dead Prez Racist? Well, they certainly take it to another level, but it's not like they try to get all white people killed with their songs. When they say "crackers" they refer to the police/politicians and so on.
I've seen them hang out with -lots- of white people in interviews/concerts, it's not like they're black neo-nazis or anything.
I want to hear from the people! IS DEAD PREZ RACIST TO YOU??? or do you think they are pointing out racist white folks by labeling them crackers?
Short description of Dead Prez:
American underground political hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1. They are known for their confrontational style combined with socialist and pan-Africanist lyrics. These lyrics tend to focus on social justice, critical pedagogy, institutional racism, police, capitalism, education, prison systems, religion, activism against political repression, and corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels. Dead Prez made their stance clear on their first album, declaring on the lead song, "I'm a African" that the group is "somewhere between N.W.A. and P.E.."
In 1990, M-1 headed to Tallahassee to attend FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University) where he and stic.man met and connected due to their mutual love of music and similar political ideology. There, their views solidified, M-1 becoming particularly interested in the Black Panther Party.
M-1 joined the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement in Chicago for three years while stic.man remained behind in Florida and started getting into trouble. Burned out by the arduous labor of Uhuru, M-1 decided it was time to focus on music and stic.man agreed.
Dead prez transcribed the political education they acquired into lyrical poetry. Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar discovered them in New York and helped them sign a deal with Loud Records, but being new on a famous label like Loud (home to the Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep) was not easy. Although Dead Prez was not always Loud's top priority, they built a fan base thanks to their over-the-top performances (they've been known to ignite dollar bills and toss apples into the audiences, declaring that they must eat healthily). They also made an early appearance on Big Pun's Capital Punishment in 1998.
Dead Prez- Hip Hop
Dead Prez- Hell Yeah
Dead Prez- Mind Sex
Dead Prez- They Schools
Dead Prez- we need a revolution
I think Dead Prez is about as racist as the Black Panthers and Malcolm X. The Black Panther movement and leaders like Malcolm X existed because they were telling the truth, they were saying what they saw, and lived and felt. I like Dead Prez because they make good music, and they make real music about real topics. It’s easy for white people to be offended; the culture is obsessed with niceties. I mean the whole “cracker” thing is all about semantics. I don’t think they are referring toward all people with light skin, I think they are talking specifically about the people whos lives are colored by control and greed and who work to keep the world in the state it is in today. I mean do you ever stop to consider racism? What really happened during slavery? I mean there were some laws that were slowly passed and things are different than they once were but it’s like the “niceties.” It’s like something that was swept under the rug or put in the attic in one of those convenient, color coded, plastic organizational boxes. So much inequality still exists every single day in the front of everyone’s eyes, but nobody talks about it. It’s literally crazy. So when someone comes along and starts speaking the truth, they disrupt the illusion and this makes the hallucinogenic masses angry, or offended. They try to flip the script and make it look like the person speaking sincerely is the crazy one (FOX has an infuriating talent for this). I mean black history and black culture, it’s all boiled down to some bad shit happened during slavery that we don’t really talk about and…don’t use the “n” word. I think if your history, culture, sisters, brothers, and mothers were so devalued and oppressed, mentally and physically, you might be inclined to write some lyrics exposing the bullshit… and we do need a revolution. I’ll add my own little side note though, the only way a real revolution, where humanity values humanity, will be born is when we stop alienating each other and listen.
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