I blame Puff Daddy. Until Sean Coombs, rappers boasted about their riches, but they still remembered – and referenced – their not-so-glamorous roots. Now, though, the vast majority seem content to leave that kind of reality-check to Eminem. They have other priorities, dogg. MTV Cribs are coming to their house today!
Into this ghetto-fabulous environment, Dead Prez waltz like the poor relatives the likes of Chingy were doubtless hoping they’d never see again. On RBG (Revolutionary But Gangsta), their mission is to describe, in hard-hitting detail, what life is like for those on the margins of society. Dead Prez rap about the kind of existence where stealing and killing is normal and where spending long stretches in jail is inevitable. They write about alcoholism, drug-addiction and their fear of dying before they hit 30. These songs aren’t pretty, but they can be very powerful. On some of the best tracks – ‘Way of Life’, ‘W-4’ and the excellent bonus track ‘Twenty’ – you can almost smell the misery in the air.
Dead Prez excel at offering up portraits of doom, but the humour that runs through albums by equally socially-conscious bands like Public Enemy is conspicuous only by its absence here. It’s thus a relief when Jay-Z enters the picture on the remixed version of the standout track ‘Hell Yeah’, barking like a deranged seal and livening up proceedings enormously. A few more tunes like this one and Dead Prez could be a serious contender.