Let's Get Free
2000 studio album by dead prez
Let's Get Free | ||||
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Studio album by dead prez | ||||
Released | February 8, 2000 (2000-02-08)[1] | |||
Recorded | 1998–2000 | |||
Genre | Political hip hop | |||
Length | 69:30 | |||
Label | Loud | |||
Producer |
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dead prez chronology | ||||
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Let's Get Free is the debut studio album by hip-hop duo dead prez. It was released on February 8, 2000, on Loud Records.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Sun-Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B[4] |
NME | 7/10[5] |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10[6] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Source | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Wolves" (Chairman Omali Yeshitela) | dead prez | 2:16 |
2. | "I'm a African" (additional vocals by Indo and Abu) | Hedrush & dead prez | 3:19 |
3. | "'They' Schools" (chorus vocals by Keanna Henson) | Hedrush & dead prez | 5:06 |
4. | "Hip-Hop" | Hedrush & dead prez | 3:33 |
5. | "Police State" (opening vocals by Chairman Omali Yeshitela) | Hedrush & dead prez | 3:40 |
6. | "Behind Enemy Lines" (phone calls by Ness, Toya and Divine) | Hedrush & dead prez | 3:03 |
7. | "Assassination" | Lord Jamar & dead prez | 2:01 |
8. | "Mind Sex" (additional vocals by Umi, Becca Byram, poem by Abiodun Oyewole) | dead prez | 4:51 |
9. | "We Want Freedom" (additional vocals from "The Spook Who Sat by the Door") | Hedrush & dead prez | 4:33 |
10. | "Be Healthy" (additional vocals by Prodigy) | Hedrush & dead prez | 2:34 |
11. | "Discipline" (phone call by Dedan and Nimrod) | dead prez | 1:37 |
12. | "Psychology" (additional vocals by True Image, poem read by Umi) | Lord Jamar & dead prez | 5:56 |
13. | "Happiness" | Lord Jamar & dead prez | 3:48 |
14. | "Animal in Man" | dead prez | 4:31 |
15. | "You'll Find a Way" | dead prez | 3:13 |
16. | "It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" (featuring Tahir and People's Army) | Kanye West & dead prez | 3:55 |
17. | "Propaganda" (additional vocals by Becca Byram, ending vocals by Huey Newton) | Lord Jamar & dead prez | 5:14 |
18. | "The Pistol" (featuring Maintain of Illegal Tendencies) | Lord Jamar & dead prez | 4:27 |
Album singles
Single information |
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"Police State"
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"Hip-Hop"
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"It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop"
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"I'm a African"
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"Mind Sex"
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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 |
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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
- ^ https://deadprez.com/blogs/2/let-s-get-free [dead link]
- ^ Conaway, Matt. "Let's Get Free – Dead Prez". AllMusic. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Takahashi, Corey (March 17, 2000). "Let's Get Free". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ Capper, Andy (March 4, 2000). "Dead Prez – Let's Get Free". NME. Archived from the original on April 12, 2000. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ Kameir, Rawiya (November 3, 2019). "dead prez: Let's Get Free Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Davis, André LeRoy (March 2000). "Dead Prez: Let's Get Free". The Source. No. 126. p. 246.
- ^ "Dead Prez: Let's Get Free – PopMatters Music Review". Archived from the original on 2004-06-18.
- ^ "Pound Magazine Review: dead prez – Let's Get Free". Archived from the original on 2004-12-08.
- ^ Ex, K. "RollingStone.com: Let's Get Free : dead prez : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2005-02-18.
- ^ "Dead Prez Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Dead Prez Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- stic.man
- M-1
- Let's Get Free
- RBG: Revolutionary but Gangsta
- Information Age
- Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1
- Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 2: Get Free or Die Tryin
- Pulse of the People: Turn Off the Radio Vol. 3
- Turn Off the Radio Vol. 4: Revolutionary But Gangsta Grillz
- Confidential
- Can't Sell Dope Forever
- Soldier 2 Soldier
- Manhood
- "Hip-Hop"