Hip-Hop (Dead Prez song)

Last updated
"Hip-Hop"
Single by Dead Prez
from the album Let's Get Free
ReleasedMarch 30, 1999 [1]
Genre Hip hop
Length3:34
Label Loud
Songwriters
Producer Hedrush
Dead Prez singles chronology
"Police State"
(1998)		"Hip-Hop"
(1999)		"'They' Schools"
(1999)
Music video
"Hip-Hop" on YouTube

"Hip-Hop" is a song by American hip hop duo Dead Prez, released on March 30, 1999 as a single from their debut studio album Let's Get Free (2000). Produced by production group Hedrush and Dead Prez, it is the duo's best-known song.

Contents

Composition and lyrics

The production of the song features a "warped, wobbly" bassline. Lyrically, Dead Prez criticizes the capitalist functions of the music industry and its exploitation of black people ("These record labels slang our tapes like dope / You can be next in line and signed and still be writing rhymes and broke"), [2] and encourages the idea of using hip hop music as a means to promote social change. [3] In the first verse, M‑1 promotes staying true to oneself as a rapper, and Stic.man echoes the song's message in his final lines. [4]

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. Andy Capper of NME described it as "A truly remarkable, inventive track - with its crazy, twisting boa constrictor bassline and blazing, call-to-arms chorus - it's a fierce declaration of war on hip-hop capitalists and an urgent reminder for rappers and fans alike to consider the bigger picture, asking them: 'Would you rather have a Lexus or justice?'" [3] Billboard ranked it as one of the greatest songs of 1999. [4]

Remix

A remix of the song "It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" appears on Let's Get Free. This version features Tahir (of Hedrush) and The People's Army and was produced by Kanye West and Dead Prez. [5]

The song served as the opening music for Chappelle's Show (where the instrumental version of the song is used) [2] [5] and the documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution .

Charts

"Hip-Hop"

Chart (1999–2000)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [6] 41
US Hot Rap Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 49

"It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop"

Chart (2000)Peak
position
US Hot Rap Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 43

References

  1. ↑ "Dead Prez - Hip Hop". AllMusic . Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Kameir, Rawiya (November 3, 2019). "dead prez: Let's Get Free Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Capper, Andy (March 4, 2000). "Dead Prez – Let's Get Free". NME . Archived from the original on April 12, 2000. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "The 99 Greatest Songs of 1999: Critics' Picks". Billboard . April 8, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Pablo, J. (June 16, 2013). "Dead Prez React to Kanye's New York Times Comments About Them". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Dead Prez Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
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