M1 dead prez biography

Mutulu Olugbala (born Lavonne Alford, July 25, 1975), better known by his stage name M-1 (sometimes stylized as M1), is an American rapper, songwriter, and activist from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with stic.man. M-1’s first solo album, Confidential, credited to “Dead Prez Presents M-1,” was released on March 21, 2006, through Sotti/Koch Records.Following Confidential M-1 worked on the album Can’t Sell Dope Forever by Dead Prez & Outlawz. M-1 had the lead role in Broken Rhyme, a 2006 American 90-minute feature film and drama directed and produced by Detdrich McClure. The film premiered at the Filmlife and HBO American Black Film Festival in June 2006 as an Official Selection. M-1 is also a political activist for many black and left-wing causes. In July 2009, M-1 accompanied the Viva Palestina convoy, delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.[6] In 2010, M-1 was featured on British-Palestinian rapper Shadia Mansour’s single “Al Kufiyyeh 3arabeyyeh” (“The Keffiyeh is Arabian”) in her response to the “Israeli Keffiyah”, an attempt by Zionists to rebrand the garment as an Israeli attire. M-1 is a co-founder of Urban Aroma, “a platform for cannabis, art, activism and social equity with editorial and charitable commitments.”

Bonnot (also Walter Buonanno) is a 3x Award Winning composer, a talented musician playing a variety of instruments, a dj and a producer, known mainly for his projects longside the legendary M1 Dead Prez , General Levy and the italian hip hop pioneers Assalti Frontali. In 2013 the 4 Grammy Awards winner Macklermore brought out “M1 Dead Prez & Bonnot” in the “Macklemore & Ryan Lewis” show at the Madison Square Garden (NYC) in front a sold out-20.000 people’s arena. Between the many official remixes he did, we can mention ‘Time Travel’ f

American hip hop duo

Dead Prez (stylized in lowercase) is an American hip hop duo composed of M-1 and stic.man, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.

Career

Background (1993–2000)

In 1993, M-1 headed to Tallahassee, Florida, to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) where he and stic.man met and formed a relationship due to their mutual love of music and similar leftist political ideology. While there, their views solidified, M-1 becoming particularly interested in the Black Panther Party.

M-1 joined the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement in Chicago for three years, while stic.man remained in Florida. Burned out by the arduous labor of Uhuru, M-1 and stic.man chose to focus on music. Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar discovered them in New York City and signed them a deal with Loud Records. Although dead prez was not always Loud's top priority, they built a fan base due to their over-the-top performances (they have been known to ignite dollar bills and toss apples into the audiences, declaring that they must eat healthy).

They had begun contributing songs to film soundtracks and made featurings on high-profile albums. Their first recorded song, "The Game of Life (Score)" appeared on the 1997 soundtrack to the film Soul in the Hole. In 1998 their song "D.O.P.E. (Drugs Oppress People Everyday)" was featured in the movie Slam. Also in 1998, they were featured on the skit "The Rain and the Sun" off Big Pun's album Capital Punishment, and in 1999 were featured on The Beatnuts' song "Look Around" off their album Musical Massacre.

Releases (2000–present)

The duo's debut album was 2000's Let's Get Free, with their most popular single to date "Hip-

American rapper

Musical artist

Mutulu Olugbala (born Lavonne Alford, July 25, 1975), better known by his stage name M-1 (sometimes stylized as M1), is an American rapper, songwriter, and activist from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with stic.man.

Career

M-1's first solo album, Confidential, credited to "Dead Prez Presents M-1," was released on March 21, 2006, through Sotti/Koch Records. The album also had one of its songs, "'til We Get There" on the EA Sports game NBA Live 2007 in the tracklist. Following Confidential M-1 worked on the album Can't Sell Dope Forever by Dead Prez & Outlawz.

M-1 had the lead role in Broken Rhyme, a 2006 American 90-minute feature film and drama directed and produced by Detdrich McClure about a disillusioned rapper who goes to Japan to shoot a video there and encounters a mysterious Japanese woman who leads him on a spiritual journey and the heavy price he has to pay for turning his back on the forces that run the hip-hop music industry. The film premiered at the Filmlife and HBO American Black Film Festival in June 2006 as an Official Selection.

M-1 is also featured in the UK documentary, Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word.

M-1 is also a political activist for many black and left-wing causes. In July 2009, M-1 accompanied the Viva Palestina convoy, delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In 2010, M-1 was featured on British-Palestinian rapper Shadia Mansour's

Dead Prez is the pair of largely undergroundalternative rappers, stic.man and M-1. They have become known largely for their hard-hitting style and politically-aware lyrics, focusing on racism, critical pedagogy, and activism against governmental hypocrisy, and corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels.

In 1990, M-1 headed to Tallahassee to attend FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University) where he and Sticman met and connected due to their mutual love of music and knowledge. "I was soaking up the Black Panther Party as a whole," M-1 remembers. "I learned about their lives and it helped mold me."

"I realized there's a struggle already going on and I have to try to help ride it out," interjects Stic.man. M-1's quest for insight led him to join the International Democratic People’s Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) in Chicago for three years while Stic.man remained behind in Florida and started getting into trouble. Burned out by the arduous labor of Uhuru, M-1 decided it was time to do that music thing and Stic.man agreed.

dead prez transcribed the political education they acquired into lyrical poetry. Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar discovered them in New York and helped them sign a deal with Loud Records. But being the new kids on the block of a powerhouse label like Loud (home to the Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep) wasn't easy. dead prez wasn't always Loud's priority but that didn't stop them from building a fan base around their over-the-top performances. (They've been known to ignite dollar bills and toss apples into the audiences, declaring they eat healthy).

Their debut album was Let's Get Free, which had a minor hit with the song "Hip-Hop" the year before. The album was critically well-received, and included intense political diatribes featuring prominent black revolutionary Omali Yeshitela, as well as "Animal in Man," a retelling of George