I'll Sleep When You're Dead

I'll Sleep When You're Dead
I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Studio album by El-P
Released	March 20, 2007
Studio	Gotham (New York City)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	55:07
Label	Definitive Jux
Producer	El-P
El-P chronology
Singles from I'll Sleep When You're Dead
	"Everything Must Go"; Released: 2006; "Flyentology"; Released: 2007;

I'll Sleep When You're Dead is the second solo studio album by American hip hop artist El-P. It was released through Definitive Jux on March 20, 2007. It peaked at number 78 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[1] selling about 11,000 copies in its first week.^[2] Music videos were created for "Flyentology"^[3] and "Smithereens".^[4]

Production

Despite his usual dislike of "records that have a bunch of (featuring so and so) after every song title",^[5] El-P has explained the more organic nature of the collaborations on I'll Sleep When You're Dead:

My collaborations for the most part come from friendships I have with people who happen to be in the vicinity while I'm making my shit. Little splashes of other peoples voices, talents, energy used in subtle ways is the way I usually like to freak it. Rob does some back ups, Sweeny plays some guitar, Aes drops a verse, James plays some bass... whatever works at the time. It's the South Park theory: when George Clooney appeared on South Park it was as a gay dog. That's the type of shit that makes my day.^[5]

El-P has compared the overall sound of the album's music to "a psychedelic Boogie Down Productions record", and like "Scott LaRock and Ced Gee take acid".^[6]

The bird on the album's cover is based on a drawing that Alexander Calder made on a wooden toy airplane for El-P as a child.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100^[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[9]
The A.V. Club	B^[10]
Entertainment Weekly	B+^[11]
The Guardian	^[12]
The Independent	^[13]
NME	7/10^[14]
Pitchfork	8.0/10^[15]
Rolling Stone	^[16]
Spin	^[17]
Uncut	^[18]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, I'll Sleep When You're Dead received an average score of 80 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[8]

John Bush of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the most powerful hip-hop albums of 2007."^[9] Dave Heaton of PopMatters gave the album 8 stars out of 10, saying: "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."^[19] Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club gave the album a grade of B, saying, "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."^[10]

Consequence of Sound placed it at number 42 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2007" list.^[20]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tasmanian Pain Coaster" (with Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala)	6:56
2.	"Smithereens (Stop Cryin')"	4:34
3.	"Up All Night"	2:38
4.	"EMG"	4:33
5.	"Drive"	4:15
6.	"Dear Sirs"	1:34
7.	"Run the Numbers" (with Aesop Rock)	4:43
8.	"Habeas Corpses (Draconian Love)" (with Cage)	4:36
9.	"The Overly Dramatic Truth"	4:32
10.	"Flyentology" (with Trent Reznor)	4:03
11.	"No Kings"	3:07
12.	"The League of Extraordinary Nobodies"	2:36
13.	"Poisenville Kids No Wins / Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)" (with Chan "Cat Power" Marshall)	7:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

El-P – vocals, production, executive production
Omar Rodríguez-López – vocals (1)
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals (1)
Matt Sweeney – guitar (1)
Wilder Zoby – synthesizer (1, 7)
Mr. Dibbs – turntables (1, 2, 7, 8)
Hangar 18 – vocals (2)
Mr. Lif – vocals (3)
Big Wiz – turntables (4)
Aesop Rock – vocals (7)
Cage – vocals (8)
Daniel Kaufman – lute (8)
Mr. Len – vocals (8)
Victoria Allen – vocals (8)
Daryl Palumbo – vocals (9), keyboards (9)
Camu Tao – vocals (9)
Trent Reznor – vocals (10), additional production (10)
Atticus Ross – programming (10)
Rob Sonic – vocals (10)
Tame One – vocals (11)
Joey Raia – vocals (12), recording, mixing
Slug – vocals (12)
Murs – vocals (12)
Chan "Cat Power" Marshall – vocals (13)
Kareem Bunton – guitar (13)
Ikey Owens – keyboards (13)
Michael Sarsfield – mastering
Brad Smith – layout, design
Timothy Saccenti – photography
Amaechi Uzoigwe – executive production
Jesse Ferguson – project management

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)^[21]	158
UK R&B Albums (OCC)^[22]	10
US Billboard 200^[1]	78
US Independent Albums (Billboard)^[23]	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[24]	55