I'll Sleep When You're Dead

I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Studio album by El-P
Released	March 20, 2007 (2007-03-20)
Studio	Gotham (New York City)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	55:07
Label	Definitive Jux
Producer	El-P
El-P chronology
Collecting the Kid (2004) I'll Sleep When You're Dead (2007) Cancer 4 Cure (2012)
Singles from I'll Sleep When You're Dead
"Everything Must Go" Released: 2006 "Flyentology" Released: 2007

I'll Sleep When You're Dead is the second solo studio album by American hip hop artist El-P. It was released through Definitive Jux on March 20, 2007. It peaked at number 78 on the Billboard 200 chart, ^[1] selling about 11,000 copies in its first week. ^[2] Music videos were created for "Flyentology" ^[3] and "Smithereens". ^[4]

Production

Despite his usual dislike of "records that have a bunch of (featuring so and so) after every song title", ^[5] El-P has explained the more organic nature of the collaborations on I'll Sleep When You're Dead:

My collaborations for the most part come from friendships I have with people who happen to be in the vicinity while I'm making my shit. Little splashes of other peoples voices, talents, energy used in subtle ways is the way I usually like to freak it. Rob does some back ups, Sweeny plays some guitar, Aes drops a verse, James plays some bass... whatever works at the time. It's the South Park theory: when George Clooney appeared on South Park it was as a gay dog. That's the type of shit that makes my day. ^[5]

El-P has compared the overall sound of the album's music to "a psychedelic Boogie Down Productions record", and like "Scott LaRock and Ced Gee take acid". ^[6]

The bird on the album's cover is based on a drawing that Alexander Calder made on a wooden toy airplane for El-P as a child. ^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100 [8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The A.V. Club	B [10]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [11]
The Guardian	[12]
The Independent	[13]
NME	7/10 [14]
Pitchfork	8.0/10 [15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
Spin	[17]
Uncut	[18]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, I'll Sleep When You're Dead received an average score of 80 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ^[8]

John Bush of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the most powerful hip-hop albums of 2007." ^[9] Dave Heaton of PopMatters gave the album 8 stars out of 10, saying: "The genius of I'll Sleep When You're Dead -- and the reason it deserves to be considered as a progressive step in El-P's journey as an artist -- is that the tracks are just as dense and complex as on his other albums, but in a new, fresh way." ^[19] Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club gave the album a grade of B, saying, "nobody makes hip-hop as textured and atmospheric as El-P, and he manages to temper his disorienting noise with soulful suggestions this time out." ^[10]

Consequence of Sound placed it at number 42 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2007" list. ^[20]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tasmanian Pain Coaster" (with Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala)	6:56
2.	"Smithereens (Stop Cryin)"	4:34
3.	"Up All Night"	2:38
4.	"EMG"	4:33
5.	"Drive"	4:15
6.	"Dear Sirs"	1:34
7.	"Run the Numbers" (with Aesop Rock)	4:43
8.	"Habeas Corpses (Draconian Love)" (with Cage)	4:36
9.	"The Overly Dramatic Truth"	4:32
10.	"Flyentology" (with Trent Reznor)	4:03
11.	"No Kings"	3:07
12.	"The League of Extraordinary Nobodies"	2:36
13.	"Poisenville Kids No Wins / Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)" (with Chan "Cat Power" Marshall)	7:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• El-P – vocals, production, executive production
• Omar Rodríguez-López – vocals (1)
• Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals (1)
• Matt Sweeney – guitar (1)
• Wilder Zoby – synthesizer (1, 7)
• Mr. Dibbs – turntables (1, 2, 7, 8)
• Hangar 18 – vocals (2)
• Mr. Lif – vocals (3)
• Big Wiz – turntables (4)
• Aesop Rock – vocals (7)
• Cage – vocals (8)
• Daniel Kaufman – lute (8)
• Mr. Len – vocals (8)
• Victoria Allen – vocals (8)
• Daryl Palumbo – vocals (9), keyboards (9)
• Camu Tao – vocals (9)
• Trent Reznor – vocals (10), additional production (10)
• Atticus Ross – programming (10)
• Rob Sonic – vocals (10)
• Tame One – vocals (11)
• Joey Raia – vocals (12), recording, mixing
• Slug – vocals (12)
• Murs – vocals (12)
• Chan "Cat Power" Marshall – vocals (13)
• Kareem Bunton – guitar (13)
• Ikey Owens – keyboards (13)
• Michael Sarsfield – mastering
• Brad Smith – layout, design
• Timothy Saccenti – photography
• Amaechi Uzoigwe – executive production
• Jesse Ferguson – project management

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC) [21]	158
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [22]	10
US Billboard 200 [1]	78
US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [23]	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ( Billboard ) [24]	55

References

1. "El-P: Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
2. Hasty, Katie (March 28, 2007). "Modest Mouse Steers Its 'Ship' To No. 1 Debut". Billboard . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
3. Watercutter, Angela (February 27, 2007). "Lords of the Fly". Wired . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
4. "El-P". American Civil Liberties Union . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
5. "I'll Sleep When You're Dead Blog - a brief list of some of the people who appear in some form on my record..."
6. "I'll Sleep When You're Dead Blog - SCOTT LAROCK AND CED GEE TAKE ACID".
7. Christopher, Roy (March 15, 2007). "El-P: Wake Up. Time to Die". RoyChristopher.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
8. "Reviews for I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P". Metacritic . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
9. Bush, John. "I'll Sleep When You're Dead – El-P". AllMusic . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
10. Battaglia, Andy (March 27, 2007). "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". The A.V. Club . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
11. Matos, Michaelangelo (March 16, 2007). "I'll Sleep When You're Dead". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
12. Batey, Angus (March 16, 2007). "El-P, I'll Sleep When You're Dead". The Guardian . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
13. Gill, Andy (March 16, 2007). "Album: El-P". The Independent . Archived from the original on March 28, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
14. Miller, Alex (March 16, 2007). "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". NME . Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
15. Chennault, Sam (March 16, 2007). "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". Pitchfork . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
16. Hoard, Christian (March 20, 2007). "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
17. Ryan, Chris (March 2007). "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". Spin . 23 (3): 91–94. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
18. "El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead". Uncut (119): 99. April 2007.
19. Heaton, Dave (April 12, 2007). "El-P: Ill Sleep When Youre Dead". PopMatters . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
20. "Top 50 Albums of 2007 (page 3 of 12)". Consequence of Sound . January 23, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
21. "Chart Log UK: E-40 – E-Z Rollers". Zobbel.de. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
22. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40: 25 March 2007 - 31 March 2007". Official Charts Company . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
23. "El-P: Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
24. "El-P: Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved September 13, 2018.

External links

• I'll Sleep When You're Dead at Discogs (list of releases)
• I'll Sleep When You're Dead at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• El-P's blog chronicling the album's recording process