Sage Francis

Human The Death Dance

[4.5/5] Sage Francis has been immersed in hip-hop since he was 8, but he lives in the same world you do. The Rhode Island rapper references My Chemical Romance and hates being called emo. Mostly, though, he rhymes like a champ. On album opener “Underground For Dummies,” Francis relives his rise from Scribble Jam gladiator to acclaimed emcee, riding a grimy power-chord sample that would fill a rock box. He wields a sharp vocal hook in “Midgets And Giants,” savaging wannabes’ 8 Mile fantasies, then roughing up alt-culture in general: “If you ain’t dead, you ain’t a Suicide Girl.”

Longtime compatriots Odd Nosdam and Alias bring boom-bap-inspired beats, but the disc really takes flight with contributions from roots siren Jolie Holland and movie composer/jazz musician Mark Isham. Kurtis SP dishes up a smooth mellotron and trumpet in “Hell Of A Year,” and the chilly “Black Out On White Night” could spark a trip-hop revival.

On Human The Death Dance, Sage Francis erases the line between rap and spoken-word. “Hoofprints In The Sand” finds him shifting from personal to political, training his binoculars on SUVs, Terri Schiavo and battlefield amputations before wondering why nobody tries to impress Jodie Foster anymore. They’re lyrics you can actually read, with plenty left between the lines. (EPITAPH) D.X. Ferris

ROCKS LIKE:

Buck 65’s This Right Here Is Buck 65

Sole’s Selling Live Water

Buddy Wakefield’s Run On Anything

IN-STORE SESSION WITH SAGE FRANCIS

Independent rappers hate the terms “indie rap” and “alt-hip-hop.” On “Underground For Dummies” you say, “This is hip-hop for the people.” Do you consider your music straight hip-hop, period?

I do. Except I have to understand that what I consider hip-hop isn’t the general status quo. When I say, “This is hip-hop for the people,” it means this is hip-hop for not just hip-hoppers.

You wrote MC Serch an open letter critiquing VH1’s The (White) Rapper Show. For the rapper who is white, what’s the best way to keep it authentic, if not real?

Through that show, they were trying to change people and turn them into what popular hip-hop has become, rather than accentuating their own unique experiences through the craft of hip-hop. There were moments on the show I appreciated, and there were moments I wished they wouldn’t be pushed in that direction. To do it in the most honest and direct way, [it’s best] to keep away from current trends and standards of hip-hop music.

The album closes with “Going Back To Rehab.” Is there a lot of common behavior that you see disguised as addictions?
Addiction comes in many, many forms. People have their vices, whether [they] be gambling or the internet or alcohol or cigarettes or junk food [or] sex or work. Moderation is becoming extinct. [Also,] unhealthy lifestyles-anything that takes away from positive living. Stuff that continually takes you away from family and good, healthy fun with people. And I’m not a saint, I’m not exempt from that at all.

You’re involved in KnowMore.org. Talk about that a little.

It’s a corporation consumer-activism website where we use Wikipedia technology so people all over are able to make entries on any company. We have this huge database of information so that people who care about where their money goes can search any company, and we have a complete rap sheet on that company. It’s important to people who don’t like where the country’s headed and don’t know why-they continue to go to the voting booth, and they’re unhappy with the result. It’s because money’s running the world.

Where you spend your money has a direct effect on certain laws that pass or don’t pass. Certain companies get huge breaks while independent companies shit the bed. When you realize that you are a cog in the big, money-making machine-and you’re sick of working for the wrong result-then it’s time for you to start putting your money in places that are for the greater good of your community. You vote with your dollar. -D.X. Ferris