Dead Prez will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of their classic album 'Let's Get Free'

In the year 2000, much of hip-hop looked incredibly glossy and celebrated opulence, thanks in part to Sean Diddy Combs' label Bad Boy, which saw huge success then. On the East Coast, shiny suits in music videos replaced hoodies and Timberland boots, while songs with political messages were swallowed up by rap verses about money and women.

But there were some groups who chose to walk a different path at that time, and they gave listeners who preferred more substance in their songs an alternative. Black Star, which consists of Talib Kweli and Mos Def — aka Yasiin Bey — were one of those groups. So were The Roots and Dilated Peoples.

Another act that offered something different back then was Dead Prez, who's members consist of Florida native stic.man and Brooklyn's M-1. In 2000 the group dropped their classic debut album Let's Get Free, which are full of songs about revolution and empowering the Black and Brown community.

"Camouflage fatigues and dashikis / Somewhere in between N.W.A and P.E," raps stic.man in the song "I'm a African," which is a perfect way to describe the group.

Last month marked the 25th anniversary of Let's Get Free, and the duo will be celebrating it on March 28 at an event hosted by BRIC Arts Media. M-1 talked about the event with AllHipHop and what it means to the group to celebrate the album in Brooklyn, where they grew to fame.

“Hey, I mean, look, in Brooklyn, we touching back in the hometown and ground zero, the center point of where we created a lot of this legacy that Dead Prez carries in Brooklyn,” he explained. “So it’s only right that we bring it to BRIC ... So on March 28, we going to pull up on that stage man and do what we do best, man. Twenty-five years it’s that time, man. And I can’t believe we here.”

If you've never listened to Let's Get Free, do yourself a favor and play it today.