Music Essay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW3-sex3_Vs - DIFFERNT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PITNYQtZWFE- Slow Down Ghandi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV3kVSCMiFY- Hey Bobby (Example of Spoken Word poetry)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdzFhBtxW0A - Makeshift Patriot



Being white, vegetarian, and a straight edge (no drugs, no alcohol) Sage Francis seems like an unlikely character for revitalizing an underground hip-hop movement yet his poetic, metaphorical style has made him a staple in underground rap.

Sage Francis has been rapping since he was eight years old, often hiding in his closet from his mom rapping into an old tape recorder. He was heavily influence by Run DMC yet his mother never took him to a show because she thought it would poison him. Sage would have a silent nerdy persona through his youth due to the fear of having his rap music taken away by his mother, but when he entered college he quickly took on the underground rap scene by storm.

In 1996 Sage recorded his first demo-tape with little success but would later team up with the band Art-Official-Intelligence and put out 12” recorded under the name Non-Prophets. Sage style was different, he was a master of poetry who often did spoken word and talked about himself in an introspective way that criticized himself and his surroundings. He did not focus on the drugs or the guns that other rappers were tied up with. With his special niche he would gain respect and be dubbed the creator of “emo rap” which he still refutes. Sage would gain popularity through winning the Super bowl MC Battle in Boston and winning the Scribble Jam in Cincinnati, which is considered the highest honor in underground hip-hop. Sage’s popularity was rather limited though due to his DYI style that had an undertone of the punk movement, but when Sage Francis released “Makeshift Patriot” on October 11th 2001 one month after the attacks on the world trade center Sage had entered a whole new realm of rap. He gained some media attention for dropping such controversial lines like

"Who's gonna to make that call to increase an unknown death toll?
It's the one we rally behind He's got a megaphone...and he's promising to make heads roll.
We cheer him on, but asbestos is affecting our breath control.
The lesser we know...the more they fabricate...the easier it is to sell souls"

(Man talking) -"There is a new price on freedom, so buy into it while supplies last. Changes need to be made; No more curbside baggage, Seven pm curfew, Racial profiling will continue with less bitching. We've unified over who to kill, so until I find more relevant scripture to quote, Remember, our god is bigger, stronger, smarter, and much wealthier. So wave those flags with pride, especially the white part."

This one song opened Sage up for a new voice that would make him one of the loudest rappers in the underground scene by shifting criticism from himself onto others and then back on himself. He was described as a “truthist” who had no problem stating the facts regardless of their nature. As Marrisa Brown of All Music guide calls him- “The merciless battle rapper and renowned spoken word poet was now the most outspoken artist in a sea of tight-lipped, scared-$hitless citizens.”

By being true to hip-hop roots that utilizes simple bass lines and rythmatic delivery Sage Francis came about with his own voice that would essentially make a new genre. By talking about his flaws and political wrongs Sage started to mass an audience that was often much different than the ordinary hip-hop listener. When Francis became the first hip-hop artist to sign with the prestigious punk label Epitaph in 2004 he instantly reached a new audience that had not considered rap before. When his song Sun vs. Moon appearing on the computation album Punk-O-Rama 10 the punk community suddenly realized a bridge was being formed between rap and punk. Sun vs. Moon was confusing attack on religion by stating at one point that God is a bitch, and then coming back at the end of the song saying God can make your day brighter. Regardless of the confusing message Sage offered an insight that the punk community was unaccustomed to. Generally Sage Francis was talking about everything a punk band would talk about like political activism and questioning authority but he did it over beats instead of power chords. There was initial distrust because his genre roots but with songs like “Different” but Sage was sure to clear it up.

"I may be getting too big for my britchesbut I paid my dues when the cost was climbing
If I burn too many bridges I'll never get off of this awful island
As long as I've been rhyming, they only started listening
Because for a while they didn't like how I wouldn't smoke the pot that I was pissin' in
Plus I had no dead homies to honor while pouring out the liquor I don't drink
You can flash your shiny objects in front of my eyes and I won't blink
Ohhhh Soooo Different"


I personally think that the connection Sage Francis can make to the punk community is based on his ability to switch the topic to political wrongs and possibly his secret love for metal music. Sage occasionally puts out songs under his metal alter ego Xual Zan. He has little trust in authority which might explain his advocacy group called knowmore.org which provides consumers with information about big businesses abuse and political contributions they make. The websites slogan is “Know more Democrats, Know more Republicans” which is an obvious play on words by Sage.

Sage Francis is a well voiced artist that has an array of messages. Despite his not so secret stalker crush on Natalie Portman that is border line misogynistic I personally feel Sages promotion of a morality is something saints would have a hard time upholding. I say this because the typical Sage Francis song covers topics like breaking crack pipes, avoiding meat, questioning war, protecting minorities, and questioning his manhood/ sexuality (in his song Escape Artist he joking questions his sexual orientation). With such a plethora of messages it has become hard for others to imitate him successfully. Sage does have a few other similar artists like Slug and Atmosphere that will cover the negative sides of themselves and also talk about political wrongs but none of them embrace the straight edge style Sage has. This idea of clean living is rather foreign to the rap community so Sage Francis has become the outsider of the already displaced genre of underground hip-hop.


Overall I would call Sage Francis the black sheep of rap music. The simple fact that he is white makes him rather rare but team that up with a straight edge lifestyle and an unbelievable ability to poeticly psychoanalyze himself and the mainstream public makes him “D for Different, In a Different Way”. Most individuals who are accustom to the gangsta rap that is full of complex bass lines and synthetic voices might not appreciate Sage Francis but those who are more interested in his poetic appeal might find him as a breath of fresh air. I personally do not have much draw to the glam and “bitches and hoes” mentality of popular rap music so when I heard the more simplistic spoken word style of Sage Francis he quickly caught my attention.

I would not call Sage the band-aid the world needs but rather the band-aid the punk community needs. When the power chords and screams of NOFX and Operation Ivy have worn you out a shift towards Sages style becomes quick and painless. The same raw emotion is still there but it’s just presented in a whole new way. Despite whether or not the mainstream public appreciates his message or his old school delivery there is a no doubt that the man is loud and ready to be heard, and when he gets your attention he’ll take advantage of every second he has by packing it full of metaphors and play on words.







Sources: http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Francis,_Sage/Biography/
http://www.epitaph.com/artists/artist/138/

Follow your threads

The message of the video is to realize that you are not the only person in the world and you are part of a massive spider web that moves when you move. I felt the phrase "follow you threads" would be appropriate for this little propaganda piece because it not only suggests that you should see where your clothes are coming from but also see how you are effecting other people that you might not actually be in touch with, i.e the sweat shop laborer or the cash crop farmer in Asia. American sympathy for others is comparable to other nations but it seems that caring isn't enough, we must educate and examine how we contribute to such situations. The other little message that this slide show squeezes in is that despite our concern for others our narcissistic views of ourselves can harm and even kill.