Let's Get Free

Let's Get Free
Studio album by
dead prez
ReleasedFebruary 8, 2000[1]
Recorded1998–2000
Genre
Length69:30
LabelLoud
Producer
Dead prez chronology
Let's Get Free
(2000) 		RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta
(2004)

Let's Get Free is the debut studio album by hip-hop duo dead prez. It was released February 8, 2000[1] on Loud Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Sun-Times[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
NME7/10[5]
Pitchfork8.2/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
The Source3.5/5[9]

Although the production was derided by some critics as a "dull musical backdrop",[10] Let's Get Free was called a "return to politically conscious rap".[11] Rolling Stone gave the album four stars and lauded its equation of "classrooms with jail cells, the projects with killing fields and everything from water to television with conduits for brainwashing by the system".[12]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Wolves" (Chairman Omali Yeshitela)dead prez2:16
2."I'm a African" (additional vocals by Indo and Abu)Hedrush & dead prez3:19
3."'They' Schools" (chorus vocals by Keanna Henson)Hedrush & dead prez5:06
4."Hip-Hop"Hedrush & dead prez3:33
5."Police State" (opening vocals by Chairman Omali Yeshitela)Hedrush & dead prez3:40
6."Behind Enemy Lines" (phone calls by Ness, Toya and Divine)Hedrush & dead prez3:03
7."Assassination"Lord Jamar & dead prez2:01
8."Mind Sex" (additional vocals by Umi, Becca Byram, poem by Abiodun Oyewole)dead prez4:51
9."We Want Freedom" (additional vocals from "The Spook Who Sat by the Door")Hedrush & dead prez4:33
10."Be Healthy" (additional vocals by Prodigy)Hedrush & dead prez2:34
11."Discipline" (phone call by Dedan and Nimrod)dead prez1:37
12."Psychology" (additional vocals by True Image, poem read by Umi)Lord Jamar & dead prez5:56
13."Happiness"Lord Jamar & dead prez3:48
14."Animal in Man"dead prez4:31
15."You'll Find a Way"dead prez3:13
16."It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" (featuring Tahir and People's Army)Kanye West & dead prez3:55
17."Propaganda" (additional vocals by Becca Byram, ending vocals by Huey Newton)Lord Jamar & dead prez5:14
18."The Pistol" (featuring Maintain of Illegal Tendencies)Lord Jamar & dead prez4:27

Album singles

Single information
"Police State"
  • Released: October 27, 1998
  • B-side: "Police State" (without intro)
"Hip-Hop"
  • Released: March 30, 1999
  • B-side: "Selling D.O.P.E."
"It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop"
  • Released: December 7, 1999
  • B-side: "Hip-Hop"
"I'm a African"
  • Released: 2000
  • B-side: "The Pistol"
"Mind Sex"
  • Released: August 15, 2000
  • B-side: "Happiness"

Personnel

  • stic.man – lead vocals, production, executive producer, art direction
  • M-1 – lead vocals, production, executive producer, art direction
  • Hedrush – production, drum programming
  • Lord Jamar – production
  • Kanye West – production
  • Tahir (of Hedrush) – vocals
  • Maintain (of Illegal Tendencies) – vocals
  • Indo (of People's Army) – additional vocals
  • Abu (of People's Army) – additional vocals
  • Keanna Henson – additional vocals
  • Ness (of A-Alikes) – additional vocals
  • Toya (of People's Army) – additional vocals
  • Divine (of People's Army) – additional vocals
  • Umi – additional vocals
  • Becca Byram – additional vocals, keyboards
  • Abiodun Oyewole (of The Last Poets) – additional vocals
  • Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) – additional vocals
  • Dedan (of Illegal Tendencies) – additional vocals
  • Nimrod (of Illegal Tendencies) – additional vocals
  • True Image – additional vocals
  • Mark Batson – keyboards
  • Christos Tsantilios – recording, mixing
  • Blair Wells – recording
  • Nastee – recording
  • Doug Wilson – mixing
  • Bernard Grubman – guitar
  • Pressure of Fambase – keyboards
  • Melvin Gibbs – bass
  • Laura J. Seaton-Finn – strings
  • Joshua – horns
  • Mista Sinista (of The X-Ecutioners) – scratching
  • Sean Cane – drums, executive producer
  • Matt Life – executive producer
  • Schott Free – executive producer
  • Stuart "Kamau" Lyle – cover concept
  • Kerry DeBruce – art direction, design
  • Lorraine West – illustration
  • Anthony Cutajar – album photography
  • Saba – road photography
  • Corbis – archival images

Charts

Album

Chart (2000) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[13] 73
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[14] 22

Singles

Title Year Chart positions
US
Rap
"Hip-Hop" 1999 49
"It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" 2000 43

References

  1. ^ a b https://deadprez.com/blogs/2/let-s-get-free[dead link]
  2. ^ Conaway, Matt. "Let's Get Free – Dead Prez". AllMusic. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  3. ^ Kyles, Kyra (June 11, 2000). "dead prez, 'Let's Get Free' (Loud Records)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. ^ Takahashi, Corey (March 17, 2000). "Let's Get Free". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  5. ^ Capper, Andy (March 4, 2000). "Dead Prez – Let's Get Free". NME. Archived from the original on April 12, 2000. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  6. ^ Kameir, Rawiya (November 3, 2019). "dead prez: Let's Get Free Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Ex, Kris (May 11, 2000). "Dead Prez: Let's Get Free". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  8. ^ Caramanica, Jon (2004). "Dead Prez". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 221. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ "Dead Prez: Let's Get Free". The Source (126): 246. March 2000.
  10. ^ "Dead Prez: Let's Get Free – PopMatters Music Review". Archived from the original on 2004-06-18.
  11. ^ "Pound Magazine Review: dead prez – Let's Get Free". Archived from the original on 2004-12-08.
  12. ^ Ex, K. "RollingStone.com: Let's Get Free : dead prez : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2005-02-18.
  13. ^ "Dead Prez Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  14. ^ "Dead Prez Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2019.