“Afrika Hot!” - Review Of dead prez & DJ Green Lantern’s Pulse Of The People
ALBUM REVIEWS By TC on July 5, 2009 at 4:58 pm
While most MCs dabble and experiment with a range of styles and angles, dead prez stay as revolutionary as they want to be. No shuckin’ and jivin’, just raw, contentious Hip-Hop. Take it or leave it, fuck you. It’s philosophy like this which has kept M-1 & stic.man among the frontrunners of edutaining Hip-Hop for the past decade. Their latest rally finds the red, black and Green Lantern doing what they do best: challenging listeners to think for themselves as they tap into the Pulse Of The People for the 3rd edition of Turn Off The Radio series.
Militant as they are, dead prez still know how to churn out exceptional product. The whole ensemble, produced solely by DJ Green Lantern combines grungy instrumentation to fuel their lyrical fire as they proceed to burn corrupt law enforcement down to a crisp. Peep M-1’s incendiary words on the riotous “Warpath” with verbal darts like “Murderer, terrorist, racist, supremacists/terriorize the residents/intimidate the innocent/power unlimited/targeting the prey with the hoodie and the jury/he the judge, the jury and the executioner…” or “NYPD” with a backdrop soundscaping the evening’s hours for concrete evidence.
And the sentiments are mutual amongst notables in the rap community as Styles P shows up to distinguish the real O.G.’s from the phonies on “Gangsta, Gangster” and the ever-reliable Bun B helping to point out the haters on “Don’t Hate My Grind,” whose score with its heavy bass feedback mirrors very similar to the group’s signature opus “Hip Hop.”
Delving on topics not common not to Hip-Hop music is also another of dead prez’ fortes. Over an amalgam of eccentric sound effects and pulsating snare drums, the RBG’s preach humility and compassion on “Helpful.” And money ain’t thang to these brothers as exhibited on the weighty “$timulus Plan.” Even the misplaced “My Dirty Valentine” closes out the album with fresh air, certifying Pulse Of The People’s replay value.
True, it’s more of the same from the defiant duo but one couldn’t possible expect for a political reform at this stage in their career. By reporting from deep inside the trenches of the lives of the everyday man, dead prez prove they’re more in touch with the community than any politician could ever dream to be.
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15 Comments
I’m gonna have to check this one out… seems that I’ve slept on this one. Dead Prez is like M.O.P. to me… I gotta be in that “action mode” when listening to them. lol
dead prez, zindabad!
dead prez, zindabad!
dead prez, zindabad!
Thank you, for taking out the time to review REAL hip hop!
dead prez are like Hip Hop CNN and I’m pretty certain that they are amongst Chuck D’s 10 rap artists that make his say COT Dang, these guys are everything that Hyenas In The Desert should have been, but never were!
Free Slick Rick! Conscious Hip Hop lives!
yeah this is the kind of shit i listen to when i hit the bench…adrenaline music.
Aint Slick Rick free or did I miss that update?
Anyways, I got a copy of this in the mail last week. Guess I’ll give it a spin.
anybody got a link to the album????
I’m a bid time dead prez fan, but this joint kinda underwhelmed me. Maybe I need to give it some more burn.
I know it’s just a mixtape and maybe it isn’t fair to hold Pulse Of The People up to Revolutionary But Gangster but the bar has been set kinda high for stic. and M-1.
big > bid
I found this offering boring. I blame Green’s production…
more than a mixtape with freestyles, here it’s just only brand new songs (with brand new beats produced by dj green lantern). And fore sure, really, some dope tracks on it. ‘Information Age’ (third album) for the next year. dead prez !
i’m out for dead presidents to represent me
@Gotty, sorry my bad, yeah he is free, but Homeland Security has been trying it’s best since 2006 to try and deport him. They’ve been citing some dangerous immigrant piece of legislation to justify their cause, or something like that.
It’s odd how the system can catch you out like that sometimes.
But anyway remember when Let’s Get Free first dropped back in 98 or was it 99? That was slap bang in the middle of that whole NORE, DMX, Canibus, Post Biggie Bad Boy era and folks were thinking naa naa these guys are like 7 years too late, no room for conscious rap no more.
But they still standing, in fact, you could say they along with Mos Def laid down the foundation for a new stream of consciousness back then a decade or so ago.
Deen Says:
I found this offering boring. I blame Green’s production…
==========================================
He said it, not me.
But I concur.
I have yet to listen to this…I want to listen!!!!
Listen I must!!!
lol….but for real…anybody got a link?
@PSA
http://rapidshare.com/files/246461423/Dead_Prez_And_DJ_Green_Lantern-Pulse_Of_The_People__Turn_Off_The_Radio_Vol_3_-2009-VAG.rar
good album-a subpar dead prez album is still 90% better than anything thats out now-straight up
rep that sunshine state
bless
“Gangsta, Gangster” (Feat. Styles P) and “Summer Time” whith the sample of Teddy Pendergrass Are really great…
Thank 4 the link!