M-1 Talks New Dead Prez Album and Gun Control: ‘We Do Have A Right to Protect Ourselves’

M-1 Talks New Dead Prez Album and Gun Control: ‘We Do Have A Right to Protect Ourselves’



"You brought up “Dirty White Girl,” which has become the most controversial track on the album, and not just because it gives a winking nod to synth-new-wave club music. There’s a line that goes, “Lady liberty wanna get with me, but that bitch ain’t never mean shit to me…” And you use phrases like jungle fever, but in a nod to the evils of cocaine, cigarettes, and even drinking milk. What inspired you to write this song and did you know it would cause such uproar?"



"One thing that’s not new to dead prez is expressing our consciousness about the environment we live in. We’ve always talked about the traps that we face everyday. We’ve made songs like “Window To My Soul” about addiction. Me and stic have talked about our own health battles and challenges. We’ve seen family members go through [substance abuse]. We figure out ways to make it a priority in our community. I commend my partner stic because he has taken that into a specialized campaign into itself. Really, the manifesto behind what created “Dirty White Girl” is our every day lives. We talk about how long it’s been since stic smoked weed or how long it’s been since we’ve both become vegans. A song like that makes sense."