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Organize the hood under I Ching banners
Red, Black, and Green instead of gang bandanas dead prez – Police State

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Dead Prez often identify themselves with the I Ching or “book of changes”, an ancient Chinese text.

Red, black and green are the Pan-African colors. Dead Prez wants the hood to unite on the basis of shared African origins rather than marking division by wearing gang colours ( e.g bloods and Crips) usually represented by bandannas.

Instead of fighting against each other in Gang wars, the hood could be uniting to fight common enemies

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9 years

bandannas -> bandanas

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326

11 years

The common hexgram that Dead Prez uses as an emblem is Shi, it is commonly translated as Leader or sometimes The Army. It is the 7th Hexagram in the YiJing/I Ching system. “The army
Constancy of worthy people, good fortune.
Not a mistake.” (Hexagram 7: the Army)[http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/learn/gua/hexagrams/hexagram7.php]

The Army

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I don't eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets
Only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat dead prez – Be Healthy

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I was right there with you ‘til “no sweets”. Shouldn’t complain, though, as smoking weed turns out to be perfectly “healthy”. Though weed itself isn’t necessarily bad for you if you’re not burning it and is definitely less harmful than many other drugs, both criminalized and legal:

stic.man himself gave up meat, dairy, and sweets at 21, when he was diagnosed with gout and, as a result, stopped drinking and smoking and became vegan

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And drink water, eight glasses a day
'Cause that's what they say dead prez – Be Healthy

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A lot of people, including health professionals, do recommend that people drink around 8 glasses of water a day (though some have recently started claiming that this advice is actually “nonsense”)

8 glasses maybe too much for some people and too little for others, 8 glasses is a commonly suggested starting point inside the holistic health community and should be adjusted for individual need from there.

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2,068

10 years

People often forget that fruits and vegetables are sources of water as well. If one ate grapes and cucumbers all day, I doubt 8 glasses would be warranted!

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no Excederin (uh uh)
Strictly herb, dead prez – Be Healthy

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Excederin use can have dangerous side effects.

So can smoking herb. Get a vaporizer, or bake some muffins or something. Healthy y'all

He may also be promoting the use of holistic, herbal medicine (not just the use of marijuana)

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735

2 years

Brand name of a pain reliever composed of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine.

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And ginger root is good for the yout' dead prez – Be Healthy

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Ginger is widely found to remedy many kinds of ailments.

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Rwanda, Nigeria dead prez – I’m a African

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D.R. = Dominican Republic. Throughout this song, Dead Prez put forth a Pan-Africanist politic that explicitly includes those not living in Africa itself, but in the diaspora

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I'm black like Steve Biko, raised in the ghetto by the people
Fuck the police (“Fuck the Police”)—you know how we do dead prez – I’m a African

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Steve Biko was a prominant South African anti-aparthied activist in the 1960s and 70s. He founded the Black Consciousness Movement. Biko died in police custody on September 12, 1977 after being arrested at a roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967. While police originally claimed that he had died because of being on hunger strike, the autopsy revealed that he’d actually suffered a brain hemorrhage due to massive head injuries inflicted by police.

Here DP connect the struggle in the ghettos of the US to those of King William’s Town (birthplace of Biko) and show how the words of NWA resonate throughout the diaspora

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[Steve Biko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko) was a prominant South African anti-aparthied activist in the 1960s and 70s.  He founded the [Black Consciousness Movement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Consciousness_Movement).  Biko [died](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko#Death_and_aftermath) in police custody on September 12, 1977 after being arrested at a roadblock under [Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_Act_No_83_of_1967).  While police originally [claimed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko#Death_and_aftermath) that he had died because of being on hunger strike, the autopsy revealed that he'd actually suffered a brain hemorrhage due to massive head injuries inflicted by police.

http://images.genius.com/ad01fa2d6fa36807563160f200194cfa.208x277x1.jpg

Here DP connect the struggle in the ghettos of the US to those of King William's Town (birthplace of Biko) and show how the [words of NWA](http://rapgenius.com/Nwa-fuck-the-police-lyrics) resonate throughout the [diaspora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora)

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A-F-R-I-C-A
Puerto Rico, Haiti, and J.A
New York and Cali, F-L-A
Yo, it ain't 'bout where you stay. It's ‘bout the motherland dead prez – I’m a African

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Whether in J.A. (Jamaica) or New York (where Dead Prez were discovered by Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar), Dead Prez’s brand of Pan-Africanism holds that for the African diaspora, identification with Africa is more important than allegiance to whatever nation state or territory you ended up in

Florida has special significance for Dead Prez: stic.man and M-1 met at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee. The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement headquarters are located in St. Petersburg, FL

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6,928

8 years

Stetsasonic – A.F.R.I.C.A

Sample plays at 1:37

https://youtu.be/RB1YfPTKVLI?t=97

This is borrowed from Stetsasonic and slightly changed

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[Chorus: dead prez] dead prez – I’m a African

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This hook is borrowed from legendary Black nationalist group X-Clan’s “Grand Verbalizer, What Time is It?” The first verse of that song opens with the lines:

African, very African
Come and step in Brother’s temple, see what’s happening

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You say I'm old news, well, who the new star?
'Cause if I'm goin' anywhere, it's probably too far Drake – Over My Dead Body

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If Drake is over, who has taken his place? It’s hard to point to someone. J.Cole’s debut LP was highly anticipated but divided critics in a way that Thank Me Later didn’t. Other than Cole, no other new rappers have come close to Drake’s sales or airplay.

In terms of popularity, Drake is holding his own with rap’s legends, guys like Eminem, Jay-Z, and Kanye West.

Also, an allusion to So Far Gone the mixtape that introduced Drake to the world.

It’s also something of an allusion, thematically, to these lines from Kanye’s All of the Lights.

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