Signed to a label (Loud) notorious for its astute thug philosophers (Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and Big Pun), Dead Prez’s empowering debut, Lets Get Free, seems like a misplaced oddity. Yet the disputatious duo of SticMan and M1 would be an oddity on any label, as they shoulder the burden of revitalizing a genre (problack) which has been seemingly erased from the collective consciousness. Taking social activism to new heights, Dead Prez are the most revolutionary hip-hop group to emerge since Public Enemy lost their audience and N.W.A disbanded. SticMan and M1 chronicle a broad range of politically pressing issues which pertain to the black community — from the inadequacies of inner-city public schooling (“They Schools”) to socially repressive bureaucracies (“Police State”). But Dead Prez are more then just agenda and rhetoric; the group’s topical diversity is equally inspiring, seamlessly shifting from the mind-pillaging “Psychology” into the conversational foreplay of “Mind Sex.” Yet it is “Animal in Man” that best illustrates just how innovative this group can be. – Matt Conaway