Nicki Minaj may have won best rap/hip-hop artist at the American Music Awards, but her brand of party-down, sexed-up hip-hop isn’t all that’s out there. Personally, I like my hip-hop in the form of Dead Prez, who came out of New York in the late ’90s and stepped onto the national radar with the 2000 album Let’s Get Free. Fronted by M-1 and Stic, the group’s revolutionary spirit comes through in lyrics like “Would you rather have a Lexus or justice?” from the album’s breakout hit “Hip Hop.” (The song so impressed Dave Chappelle that he used the instrumental version as entrance music on The Chappelle Show.) And then there’s “Malcolm Garvey Huey,” which calls out Mumia, Fela Kuti, Malcolm X, Bobby Seal, Huey Newton, Marcus Garvey, Stanley “Tookie” Williams and Nehanda. Now that’s deep. Dead Prez play on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Aubergine. 755 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. $20—$25. 9:30pm. 707.861.9190.
