Its classic Dead Prez, in fact – totally amped, powerful and, most importantly, fun.
In the mid-’90s, it was political societies like the Black Panther Party that served as fuel for Dead Prez’s fire… In the 2000s, one-half of the duo, stic.man, claims that while family, health and education come first for him and M-1 these days, music has still not taken a backseat even 15 years later.
"We have grown in different ways but we remain a family unit," explains stic.man. "M-1 is my comrade for life. We hit the road year round doing our tours still. We support each other’s individual moves. We live in different cities now and we are both fathers with many other responsibilities, but the love is there. We were homies before this music, so that’s the strength that keeps us grounded with each other. There were a number of factors that played in the success of our albums. It could be the times, the sound, the major label push, where we are at in our lives, where we choose our path. We poured our lifelong sentiment into it. Raw and focused, we never tried to repeat Let’s Get Free [2000]. We know our job is to create in the moment what is real and authentic and let each creation speak for itself. But these days we give each other space to be our own selves and we come together on what we have in common."
Despite their individual lives having many non-musical responsibilities too, on the eve of Dead Prez’ Australia tour, stic.man claims the chemistry never really gets compromised. Its classic Dead Prez, in fact – totally amped, powerful and, most importantly, fun.
"Our message has always been simple," begins stic.man. "Liberation, baby!" he laughs, "The freedom to be all that we are. It’s an important message that we always try to get out there through our music and in any other way that we can. The strength to live a warrior’s life of dedication, development, sacrifice and purpose… The Black Panther Party represented for us such a spirit of heroism to our community. They stood up against the injustices that our people faced toe-to-toe with the system. They spoke intelligently but they were still ‘hood’ and their working class character resonated with poor people internationally. They were a great force of change and they were able to capture the imagination of their generation similar to how hip-hop has the imagination of today. We saw ourselves in their eyes and in their acts of courage and love. And we saw that we must continue the fight in our own way today so that their legacy is not lost or forgotten. And we recognize the battle is still not won for the ideals, rights and justice they fought for."
stic.man claims he’s been fighting a much different battle in more recent years – that of maintaining a healthy life style and spreading the message of self-development through both his music as well as writing.
"Besides songwriting, emceeing and producing – hands-down, health and fitness is my passion! My wife is a vegan holistic health counselor and dietician and so I live in a healthy home environment. I recently founded the RBG Fit Club and I have been really inspired to build the network as a platform to encourage health and fitness through hip-hop culture. I’ve been doing martial arts and physical training, and veganism has been my spiritual centre for some years now. I no longer smoke or drink so I feel like I’m in a great place of inner peace, growth and development. It takes some work and self-discipline but you can achieve inner peace."
Besides touring with Dead Prez, stic.man announces the release of his upcoming new album The Workout, as well as a self-development book with his wife titled Revolutionary Love.
"The book is on what a happy and healthy relationship means for us," he adds. "Of course, I’m looking forward to my new album too – 14 new tracks, no cursing, just hardcore motivation music for health and fitness… But I feel as though our [Dead Prez] best is yet to come. We have had some success so far but there is a lot more where that came from, for sure. As an artist, as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a C.E.O. – forward is the way, not backwards. I’m inspired now, it seems like more than ever before. We’re also collaborating with M.I.A. She gave us a beat that we dug and we’ve been building a concept to it. We’re taking our time. We want it to be natural and really good so we’re not rushing it to just throw it out there. We really dig her spirit and expression a lot and it’s an honor to collaborate. The whole year is looking really busy for everyone."
Dead Prez [US] play The Espy on Friday March 11.
