"Get Free or Die Trying"

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This has been out for couple of weeks, any thoughts? It's another mixtape, not an official Dead Prez album, so there are lots of guest spots from the People's Army. Also, there are even more one- or two-minute snippets than on "Turn off the Radio". I'm not sure whether it's a good or a bad thing; some of the shorter tracks work well as they are, but others might've easily been turned into full-length tunes. Anyway, the production work is really good, it's has a more organic feel than on "Turn off the Radio", but it still sounds more progressive than on "Let's Get Free". The guest rappers are also pretty impressive, especially Nimrod, Askari X, Tahir and Onyx.

Another complaint is, that for an anti-capitalist act Dead Prez seem to be quite at ease with marketing thenmselves. The official second Dead Prez album is advertised as "coming soon" both on the record sleeve, and on the record itself, twice.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:46 (twenty-two years ago)

duh. i thought it was a real album. some pretty good and uncompromising lyrics on TOTR, is this as direct and no-nonsense?

"CIA, FBI, the real terrorists"

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:59 (twenty-two years ago)

There are more personal lyrics on "Get Free or Die Tryin'" than on the previous records; they're put in the proper perspective, however, with the DP'z leftist attitudes. For example, Stic raps quite touchingly about his crack fiend brother, but he also puts the blame on the system which marginalizes black youth. This give kinda good balance to the lyrics, the revolutionary politics are still there but it's not all propaganda.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 30 October 2003 14:25 (twenty-two years ago)

If their anti-captialist act is what draws you in, why wouldn't you want them to promote the hell out of themselves - thereby getting the message out there?

OR,

How does one project the values of a future revolutionary society into this exploitative society and NOT end up being totally confused -and a malcontent to boot? (and probably totally disabled from bringing the new society into being)

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I've got nothing against advertising on record sleeves, but when I listen to a record I want hear music, not ads about the band's next album. "Get Free or Die Tryin'" advertises the coming Dead Prez LP both on the intro and the outro, and with the same soundclip too, so if you put the record on repeat, you'll hear the same thing twice in a row. That's a bit too much, in my opinion, it's same thing as with rap records with too many skits. Of course, this is a minor complaint, as long as the rest of the record is still good (as is the case with this one).

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought this was about a Cat Power/50 Cent collab. :(

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

this pales in comparison to Revolutionary But Gangsta... but "Fuck the Law" and "Paper Paper" are bangers.

― mc, Friday, 31 October 2003 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought this was about a Cat Power/50 Cent collab. :(

Haha mind-meld!

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 31 October 2003 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

trying to get in touch with and old friend nimrod..

― Sophia Donofrio, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 19:02 (nineteen years ago)

Is he a rapper?

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 19:10 (nineteen years ago)

"Get Free or Die Tryin'" advertises the coming Dead Prez LP both on the intro and the outro, and with the same soundclip too, so if you put the record on repeat, you'll hear the same thing twice in a row.

wtf, what a weird complaint

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 19:12 (nineteen years ago)

this pales in comparison to Revolutionary But Gangsta... but "Fuck the Law" and "Paper Paper" are bangers.

OTM. The verses to "Fuck the Law" are just plain badass.

[Verse 1]
Slap a white boy. Snuff your landlord
Smash some windows. Break the camcord
Rob the corner store. Bomb the precinct
Take the CO. Stab the GT
Pimp the system. Bang for freedom
Fuck the high schools. Burn the prisons
Ride on the record labels. Jump your A&R
Fuck the contract. Push the AR
Get your bank up. Slip the banks up
Break the handcuffs. Invade the campus
Steal some pampers. Smash the cameras
Fuck the police. Grab the camera

[Chorus]
You wonder why we feel like fuck the law
You wonder why we write up on the wall
You wonder why we burn the cities down
Cuz we don't give a fuck, the time is now
You wonder why we feel like fuck the law
You wonder why we write up on the wall
You wonder why we burn the cities down
Cuz we don't give a fuck, the time is now

[Verse 2]
Cock your rifle. Rep your people
Fuck probation. Kidnap your PO
Run the roadblocks. Smash a TV
Fuck with DP. Steal the CD
Kiss my black ass. Nail the judges
Hang the lawyers. Ride for justice
Keep it gangsta. Kill the snitches
Get rid of the middleman. Control your business

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 19:33 (nineteen years ago)

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