All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Stylus Magazine

Ultimately, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead displays a type of artistic growth almost alien to the genre.

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Lost At Sea

I'll Sleep When You're Dead is too smart, too relevant, and too dangerous.

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Playlouder

It seems - for the first time, perhaps - he's made one out of love for the artform alone rather than with the added motive of letting off a little barely-suppressed rage or feeling he has scores to settle, either with the industry or himself.

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No Ripcord

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is a triumph that will, like its predecessor, take years to unpeel.

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Hartford Courant

The Impressionistic sound painting El-P has long threatened - and finally delivered.

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All Music Guide

One of the most powerful hip-hop albums of 2007.

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Entertainment Weekly

He flirts with melody here... and relaxes his delivery, allowing us to take a breath before heading back into the chaos. [23 Mar 2007, p.59]

The New York Times

“I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” feels simultaneously futuristic, anachronistic and of the moment.

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Observer Music Monthly

Once it hits its stride, it just keeps on getting better.

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Urb

There was a lot going on, but it's not until now... that El-P's music could actually be called full. So full that even silence weighs a ton. [Mar 2007, p.95]

Paste Magazine

Already the best hip-hop release of 2007, and it ain't even close. [Mar 2007, p.68]

Dusted Magazine

It is in the spaces between words and drums, and in the general structures of the songs... that El-P most clearly exhibits growth. And it is these points on the album that make I’ll Sleep an intriguing release.

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Uncut

For those willing to take a chance, it's an impeccably realised, verbose treat. [Apr 2007, p.99]

BBC collective

El-P's uniquely, beautifully harsh vision remains undiluted.

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Pitchfork

It's a scary, difficult album, but one well suited for our times.

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cokemachineglow

Where [Fantastic Damage] assured its legacy through sheer density, piling beats on top of one another haphazardly and layering hype tracks laced with punchlines, subtexts, and asides, Sleep finds El-P focusing his fury into individual crescendos, particularly during the record’s sterling second half.

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Drowned In Sound

El-P has masterfully used New York’s dark corners as a productive muse on I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

After repeat listens, the content of El-P’s more afflictive lyrics begins to fall away so that only the rhythm and timbre of his smoky growl remain to complement the record’s malevolent chorus of synth effects and samples. A beautiful use of negative space, indeed.

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Alternative Press

It's full of the old-fashioned care and craft hip-hop has largely forgotten. [May 2007, p.160]

PopMatters

The genius of I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead—and the reason it deserves to be considered as a progressive step in El-P’s journey as an artist—is that the tracks are just as dense and complex as on his other albums, but in a new, fresh way.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Nobody makes hip-hop as textured and atmospheric as El-P, and he manages to temper his disorienting noise with soulful suggestions this time out.

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Q Magazine

There's not much in the way of light relief. [Apr 2007, p.118]

Vibe

This is his most conventional and guest-heavy work, but also a rewarding reminder that independent hip hop was once something more than a curio. [Apr 2007, p.128]

Spin

Equal parts faithful-but-twisted boom bap and avant-indie rock, the album drips with elbow grease. [Mar 2007, p.91]

Blender

For the first time in El-P's career, he's realized you don't need to be loud to get your point across. [Apr 2007, p.110]

Billboard

Talk about bleak. [24 Mar 2007]

New Musical Express

If you enjoy using your brain rather than listening to it fizzle to the strains of Virgin Radio, then buy this.

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Rolling Stone

If you're into nodding your head and scratching your head at the same time, Dead is for you.

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The Guardian

The problem, however, is that [El-P]'s work is often too deliberated and too dense to work on levels other than the intellectual.

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Mojo

El-P's portentous delivery lacks poetics. [May 2007, p.110]

NOW Magazine

El-P's progressive beats here are full of driving, distorted drum sounds and rough samples; futuristic b-boy shit that walks a fine line between funky and grating.

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Boston Globe

"I'll Sleep" isn't supposed to be easy listening, but it shouldn't be this hard, either.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

hyper nation gave it a10:
this album along with Saul williams niggy tardust will completely change your view on what hip hop is capable of. Incredible, diverse and all too rare in this landscape of mediocrity.

J TR gave it an8:
Dope. Musically melodic, lyrically satisfying, superior in every way to all contemporary rap artists. Builds on the foundations of Fantastic Damage, and adds nuances and fixtures that floorplan lacked. What's wrong with deep production value when holistically the package is so complete?

johnny b. gave it a10:
I would call el-p ahead of his time, but I don't think time will ever catch him.

Joseph M gave it a5:
I'd rather listen to Aesop Rock. This album is good front start to finish, but it only has one stand out track, and that is not enough for me.

kk on the side gave it a9:
El-Producto is still ahead of time. You can't expect an album this intelligent and agressive to get a fair review from music critics that gush over an artist like Panda Bear. I don't think 'I'll Sleep when You're Dead" is the quantum leap forward for Hip-Hop that Fantastic Damage was in 2002, but its still one of the most original and best albums of 2007.

Sean P. gave it a10:
Incredibly dense and complex. It reminds me of Fear Of A Black Planet. Repeat listens are required.

WeeWee Jumbo gave it a9:
Purists may balk but in my opinion, this is even greater than Fantastic Damage. El-P's definitely focused on thie production here, and every song just begs to be replayed. I'm having a hard time trying not to ruin it by listening to it too many times. There's still a problem from the first album, the production often overpowers El-P's lyrics, which are already dense and obscure; but it's worth the challenge. Spectacular album, if you're a fan of indie hip hop or if you're just tired of the mainstream (and you should be), defintely get this album.

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I'll Sleep When You're Dead

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