Government Plates
| Government Plates | ||||
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| Studio album by Death Grips | ||||
| Released | November 13, 2013 | |||
| Genre | Experimental hip hop | |||
| Length | 35:42 | |||
| Label | Third Worlds, Harvest | |||
| Producer | Death Grips | |||
| Death Grips chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Government Plates | ||||
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| Alternative Record Store Day vinyl cover | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Consequence of Sound | D |
| DIY |   |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.4/10 |
| PopMatters | 8/10 |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Spin | 8/10 |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | 4.5/5 |
Government Plates is the third studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free download on November 13, 2013, following the release of the single "Birds" in August 2013. It was also uploaded by the band to multiple filesharing sites. Accompanying the album are eleven music videos, which were uploaded to the band's YouTube page. On January 14, 2014, Government Plates was made available for purchase through iTunes, as well as streaming on Spotify. The album has sold 13,000 copies as of March 2015.
On May 10, 2013, it was announced that drummer Zach Hill was working on writing, directing, and soundtracking a feature film. This same announcement stated that he was also working on a third Death Grips studio album. On July 8, it was announced that Death Grips launched their new label, Third Worlds. The label was created through "a unique relationship with Harvest/Capitol" to be distributed by Caroline Records. A 2014 release for their third studio album was also announced. On August 21, 2013, a track titled "Birds" was posted to YouTube, and made available for free download.
On November 13, 2013, Death Grips posted Government Plates on several websites for free download without any forewarning. Subsequently, they released music videos for all eleven tracks on YouTube and streamed the full album on SoundCloud. The album was released exactly 13 months, 13 days, and 13 hours after their previous album, No Love Deep Web. The album was released to iTunes and Spotify on January 14, 2014.
On November 28, 2014, 900 vinyl copies of Government Plates were released for Record Store Day Black Friday, containing new artwork and a physical replica of the license plate on the cover.
Upon its release, Government Plates was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, which indicates "generally favorable", based on 18 reviews. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media awarded the album "Best New Music", writing: "Government Plates loudly reestablishes Death Grips as a group freed by having no ideals whatsoever, making music without a past about a present with no future." Chase Woodruff of Slant Magazine gave the album a positive review, stating: "Government Plates doesn't budge an inch from the vulgar, militant nihilism of 2012's The Money Store or its follow-up, No Love Deep Web." Joe Price of This Is Fake DIY referred to the album as "a sloppy lobotomy of hip-hop focused on provoking fear and intrigue."
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