M-1 | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Lavonne Alford |
Also known as |
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Born | July 25, 1975 |
Origin | Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1996–present |
Labels | |
Member of | Dead Prez |
Mutulu Olugbala (born Lavonne Alford, July 25, 1975), better known by his stage name M-1 (sometimes stylized as M1), is an American rapper, songwriter, and activist from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with stic.man.
M-1's first solo album, Confidential, credited to "Dead Prez Presents M-1," was released on March 21, 2006, through Sotti/Koch Records. [1] Following Confidential M-1 worked on the album Can't Sell Dope Forever by Dead Prez & Outlawz. [2]
M-1 had the lead role in Broken Rhyme, a 2006 American 90-minute feature film and drama directed and produced by Detdrich McClure about a disillusioned rapper who goes to Japan to shoot a video there and encounters a mysterious Japanese woman who leads him on a spiritual journey and the heavy price he has to pay for turning his back on the forces that run the hip-hop music industry. The film premiered at the Filmlife and HBO American Black Film Festival in June 2006 as an Official Selection. [3]
M-1 is also featured in the UK documentary, Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word . [4]
M-1 is also a political activist for many black and left-wing causes. [5] In July 2009, M-1 accompanied the Viva Palestina convoy, delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. [6] In 2010, M-1 was featured on British-Palestinian rapper Shadia Mansour's single "Al Kufiyyeh 3arabeyyeh" ("The Keffiyeh is Arabian") in her response to the "Israeli Keffiyah", an attempt by Zionists to rebrand the garment as an Israeli attire. [7] [8] [9] M-1 is a co-founder of Urban Aroma, [10] "a platform for cannabis, art, activism and social equity with editorial and charitable commitments." [11]
Solo albums
Collaboration albums
Dead Prez is an American hip hop duo composed of M-1 and stic.man, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as Onefour, Hilltop Hoods, Kerser and Bliss n Eso and having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style. Since the inception of the Australian hip-hop scene, Australian Aboriginals have played a prominent role.
Tamer Nafar is a Palestinian rapper, actor, screenwriter and social activist of Israeli citizenship. He is the leader and a founding member of DAM, the first Palestinian hip hop group.
RBG: Revolutionary but Gangsta is the second studio album by American conscious hip hop duo dead prez. It was released on March 30, 2004, through Columbia Records and Sony Urban Music. The recording sessions took place at Warrior Studios in Brooklyn, and Chung King Studios and Street Light Studios in New York, between 2000 and 2002. The album was produced by Downbeat Production Collective, Sean C, Tahir, and dead prez. It features guest appearances from Krayzie Bone and Jay-Z.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party, also known as Block Party, is a 2005 American documentary film hosted and written by comedian Dave Chappelle, and directed by Michel Gondry.
Khnum Muata Ibomu, better known by his stage name stic.man and more recently as stic, is an American rapper, activist and author known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with M-1.
Can't Sell Dope Forever is a collaborative mixtape by American hip hop groups dead prez and Outlawz. It was released in 2006 through Affluent Records. Production was handled by both of dead prez members stic.man and M-1, and Outlawz member E.D.I. Mean, as well as Chuck P, Eddie Coldfingers, New Muzik and Tai Rotan. It features guest appearances from Chae, Erica Fox, Layzie Bone, Malachi, Messy Marv, Scott Lo, and stic.man's mother Ms. Nora. The album did not reach the Billboard 200, however, it peaked at number 99 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.
Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1 is a mixtape by political hip hop duo Dead Prez. The mixtape was released on November 19, 2002. It was released under the pseudonym DPZ due to a contractual conflict Dead Prez had with their former record label.
Confidential is the debut solo studio album by American rapper M-1. It was released on March 21, 2006 through Sotti/Koch Records as a DualDisc with a DVD side featuring a twenty-minute documentary on the making of the entire album in stereo sound. Production was handled by Fabrizio Sotti, Agallah, Black Jeruz, Butter, Eric "Ibo" Butler, LT Moe, Spoo Noodles and Tahir. It features guest appearances from Raye, Bang Double, Bazaar Royale, Cassandra Wilson, Ghostface Killah, K'naan, Q-Tip, Scrap Daddy, stic.man, Stori James, Styles P and Young Dre the Truth.
Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word is a 2006 British documentary short film directed by British director Bhavna Malkani. The documentary explores questions and issues surrounding the word nigger that many feel constrained to discuss, as it is often categorized as a taboo word. The twenty-eight-minute film investigates the word chronologically, discussing the history of the word from its origins all the way to rap's influence on the acceptance and commercialization of the term.
The Dope Poet Society is a hip hop group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their music is characterized by clever and sometimes controversial lyrics. ProfessorD.us is the lead vocalist of the group. The group has been active since 1995 and has toured around the world. They have also performed and collaborated with artists including Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Jeru the Damaja, and Boot Camp Click.
Palestinian hip hop reportedly started in 1998 with Tamer Nafar's group DAM. These Palestinian youth forged the new Palestinian musical subgenre, which blends Arabic melodies and hip hop beats. Lyrics are often sung in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and sometimes French. Since then, the new Palestinian musical subgenre has grown to include artists in Palestine, Israel, Great Britain, the United States and Canada.
Soroush Lashkari, known professionally as Hichkas, is an Iranian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Credited with popularizing Persian hip hop to the Iranian people and other Persian-speaking countries such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Hichkas's national success and acclaimed works are widely regarded as having broken the barriers that were in place by the Islamic regime for the acceptance of rappers in popular music. Hichkas is considered one of the pioneers of Iranian hip hop and is nicknamed "Father of Persian Rap" by his fans. He became a representation of the Iranian underclass and reflected the angst of the young Iranians. He has been influential for many artists of various genres and is often cited as one of the greatest rappers of Iranian hip hop.
Shadia Mansour, also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in Arabic and English. Much of her music revolves around Middle Eastern politics.
The 49ers is a hip-hop duo from Newark, Delaware and consists of members Jas Mace and Marchitect. They were also the focal members of another hip-hop group called The Outfit. The 49ers are known for their laid-back, jazzy, and soulful hip-hop music.
Ansar El Muhammad, better known by his stage name Askari X, is a hip-hop artist from Oakland, California. He has released 3 albums, is on numerous compilation albums, and has been a guest on several albums. Stic.man and M-1 of Dead Prez refer to Askari X in their music and credit him as one of their main musical influences. Askari X advocates Black Power, Black Liberation, and Islam in his lyrics. His sound is characterized by slow drum beats and a verbal flow similar to Tupac Shakur. Askari X is philosophically aligned with the African People's Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement. His style may be considered as conscious rap.
Information Age is the third studio album by American conscious hip hop duo dead prez. It was released through Krian Music Group digitally on October 16, 2012 and physically on January 29, 2013.
Run-DMC was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, formed in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and especially one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered new-school hip hop music and helped usher in the golden age of hip hop. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship.
Marcel Cartier is an American hip-hop artist, journalist, filmmaker, writer, and political commentator based in Germany. His music features themes such as anti-colonialism, socialism, feminism and imperialism. He has reported on Kurdish nationalism and recording the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the YPG and YPJ militias during the Rojava–Islamist conflict. His first book Serkeftin became one of the first major accounts by an English-speaking journalist to gain access to the civil structures created by Kurdish militants in Rojava. In Spring 2017 he witnessed the Syrian civil war while travelling with an international delegation to Syrian Kurdistan, his journey facilitated by filmmaker Mehmet Aksoy who was killed by ISIS later that same year. While in Kurdistan he heavily interviewed and collected the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the Women's Protection Units and People's Protection Units.
"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.