''RBG: Revolutionary but Gangsta'' is the second
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by
hip-hop duo
dead prez. It was released March 30, 2004 on
Sony Records
Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation.
Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...
.
RBG was described by
M-1 as a movement that "comes off the back of the Honorable
Marcus Garvey." According to him, "RBG means
Red, Black and Green," the traditional African
colors created by the
UNIA, which are featured on the album cover. With this album Dead Prez "made it Revolutionary But Gangsta."
On ''RBG: Revolutionary but Gangsta'', Dead Prez talks about ending poverty, the mental illness of depression, reliance on the government but of "pimping the system" as a means to this end and to the cause of liberation. On "Hell Yeah," Dead Prez declares "Fuck welfare / we say reparations".
Inside the album liner notes, RBG is variously described as standing for; "revolutionary but gangsta", "real big guns", "real black girls", "ready to bust gats", "reaching bigger goals", "read 'bout Garvey", "rappers be gassed", "red black green", "rider's basic guide", and "rollin big ganja".
The song "Radio Freq" first appeared on ''Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 1'' as "Turn Off the Radio" and is considered an homage to
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
's song "Turn Off The Radio".
Dead Prez - RBG (Revolutionary But Gangsta)
review from Stylus Magazine
In 2003, the song, "Hell Yeah" was featured on the ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' soundtrack.
Track listing
;note: tracks 13-19 are each five seconds of silence, and are followed by two more unlisted tracks, 20: "Twenty" (2:22) and 21: "Hell Yeah" (rock remix) (5:06)
Credits
Production
* Stic.man
Khnum Muata Ibomu (born Clayton Gavin, March 6, 1974), 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.
...
– track 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
* Tahir Jamal – track 3
* Dead Prez and Downbeat Production Collective – track 5, 12
* Sean Cane – track 9
References
External links
It’s Bigger than Hip Hop: An Interview with Mutulu Olugbala (M1) of Dead Prez
{{Authority control
Dead Prez albums
2004 albums
Columbia Records albums