El-P

I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (Definitive Jux)

By Matt Siblo
Published: May 17th, 2007 | 4:42pm

I don’t have the proper authority to make any commanding statements regarding the current state of backpack hip-hop, or any variation for that matter. But from amateurish glimpses I do catch, it seems its life force hasn’t pulsated rapidly since the early part of the decade. I’m referring to that small window of time in which El-P’s last album Fantastic Damage dropped while fellow Def Jux-ers Aesop Rock and RJD2 made waves of their own, potentially shifting the tide turning mainstream hip-hop on its proverbial ear in the process.

Unfortunately, and it is genuinely saddening, that these groundbreaking albums only shook audiences near the expected fault lines. Since then, the momentum that Def Jux and many other labels of its kind worked so hard to achieve has seemed to level, now existing within the same glass ceiling that plagued indie rock in a pre—Zach Braff universe.

Needless to say, expectations were high for I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, El-P’s first release in five years. He already bares the bark of an elder statesman and an MC whose anger and frustration is apparent but whose sense of amusement has fallen by the wayside. Clocking in at an overwhelming 13 songs in 50-plus minutes, El-P’s attempt to make a definitive statement has him sounding like other self-serious rappers, such as Sage Francis, whose literal attacks more often than not come across as both preachy and burdensome.

There’s no denying El-P’s talent as evident by scatter shots here (“EMG,” “No Kings”) and elsewhere, recently remixing everyone from TV on the Radio to Charlie Parker. Here he has also rounded up an impressive line-up of admirers, most notably Chan Marshall and Trent Reznor, so clearly he must be doing something right. But while a parade of famous friends can certainly peak some interest, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead fails to bring us back to those innocent glory days of the early 2000s.