Coils of smoke illuminated in purple light hazed the room and revolved around four empty beer bottles alongside a set of lonely turntables.
Turned hats and hooded heads peered into lit-up cell phone screens. The place was packed. It had the usual bustle of an Emo’s show, but the excitement seemed lessened because of the serenity of the demographic – and because “excitement” is not the right word to describe the feeling before seeing Dead Prez.
The legendary hip-hop duo stopped off at Emo’s Friday, touring with Umi of P.O.W. Local acts Zeale 32 and Just Born opened for the prodigies of the genre that Umi deemed “slap-a-cop hip hop.”
Bearing a shirt with the phrase “Will not shake hands with a clenched fist,” Umi strolls onstage holding up one fist and echoing, “Shine a light for the world to see.” The once hooded heads are faces now, peering in anticipation as he repeats political poetry in the form of hip-hop spoken word.
“Reason we ain’t got a riot is because we ain’t free,” he says.
After Umi’s set, the previous smoke coils have formed a fog over the room. Cell phones open back up, chatter resides, but the calmness is not as great as it was. Umi waits onstage.
The Dead Prez duo, M-1 and Stic.man, glide on and the subtle fog is disrupted with waves, fists, and cheers.
The pair hail from Florida and accredit their founding to a mutual yearn for political change while they were both attending college at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1990. Their first release came in 2000 with Let’s Get Free. Lyrical content derives from the movements of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
While most Dead Prez songs cite disagreement with public governmental figures such as President Bush, the group also focuses on other aspects of life, such as eating healthily. The group has been known to advocate a healthy eating lifestyle by throwing apples into audiences during some appearances.
At this appearance, a red, black, and green flag, a signal of the Universal Negro Improvement and African Communities League of the 1920s, is waved, and fans become followers of a larger movement.
Between songs, the pair discusses politics and education in an effort to inform and to teach the view they have founded themselves on. Rehearsing singles such as “Hip Hop,” “African,” and “They Schools,” the crowd nods in agreement with the beats and views expressed.
Through the fog, the pair exits and leaves the four empty beer bottles solitary in the midst of the purple haze. Hoods are placed back on heads, and the audience exits out to the cold.
Comments
I knew they were awesome to listen to, but I didn’t know they were actually good for me!