Let's Get Free

While modern rap as a whole may have lost touch its roots as protest music, there are still a handful of artists who go out of their way to educate and instigate the masses, railing against social injustices and teaching the next generation about the wicked ways of the government. M-1 and stic.man pull no punches on their first album as they cry revolution on nearly every track, sounding off against police, politicians, public schools, processed foods, and the like. They are unapologetically pro-Black, which, like X-Clan or Paris before them, has prompted some to cry "racist," though ironically their fanbase is significantly pale. On their own, some of the lyrics could be considered a bit heavy-handed, but together with the top-flight, extremely varied production (from Lord Jamar, Hedrush, and DP themselves), it comes off just right. Be sure to check the adrenaline-boosting anthem "Hip-Hop," the Afro-hippie natural love jam "Mind Sex," and the furiously ethnocentric, electro-laced "I'm A African."