Sage Francis
Template:Short description Template:Infobox musical artist
Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island.<ref name=Dusted-MakeshiftPatriot-2002>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=SLAP-HealthyDistrust-2005>Template:Cite news</ref> He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records.<ref name=Exclaim-Life-2010>Template:Cite news</ref>
Early life and educationEdit
Francis was born in Miami, Florida, but grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. He is an only child and grew up for most of his childhood with his mother and stepfather after his parents divorced when he was young. He lived in different parts of Rhode Island including North Smithfield and Woonsocket. His mom worked as a bartender and his stepfather worked as a locksmith.<ref name=Dusted-MakeshiftPatriot-2002 />
Francis began writing and recording original lyrics at age 8, being inspired by acts such as Run DMC and Public Enemy.<ref name=IllestLyrics-Life-2010>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=TheBeeShine-CopperGone-2014>Template:Cite news</ref> According to Artistdirect, Francis began sneaking out of his parents' house at age 12 to participate in rap battles.<ref name=Artistdirect-Bio>Template:Cite news</ref>
Francis received a degree in communications from Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts and a degree in journalism from the University of Rhode Island.<ref name=DaBelly-HealthyDistrust-2005>Template:Cite news</ref>
CareerEdit
In 1996, he recorded his first official demo tape, and by 1998 he had a radio show on WRIU called True School Session.
Francis won the Superbowl MC Battle in Boston in 1999, beating Esoteric.<ref name=Superbowl-MC-Battle-Akrobatik-1999>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Superbowl-MC-Battle-Esoteric-1999>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Francis won the Scribble Jam emcee battle in 2000, beating Blueprint.<ref name=IllestLyrics-Life-2010 /><ref name=DaBelly-HealthyDistrust-2005 /><ref name=ScribbleJam-BrotherAli-2000>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ScribbleJam-Blueprint-2000>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2001, the song "Makeshift Patriot," recorded on October 11, 2001, became an Internet hit for its critique of American media during and immediately following the September 11 attacks.<ref name=RT-BreakingTheSet-VonnegutBusy-2014>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Francis considers "Makeshift Patriot" to be the song that really made things come together for him. It was on the 2002 mix tape, The Known Unsoldier – Sick Of Waging War... and was widely circulated for free.<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015 />
He released the critically acclaimed first solo album Personal Journals in 2002. The record Hope, his only album with Joe Beats released under the name Non-Prophets, was named after the state of Rhode Island's motto of hope, and was meant to be very Rhode Island-centric.<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Francis broke music genre barriers by getting signed to Epitaph Records, making himself the first hip hop artist to sign with the punk rock label. He released three albums with Epitaph: A Healthy Distrust, Human the Death Dance and Life.<ref name=PopMatters-HealthyDistrust-Review-2005>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=PopMatters-HumanDeathDance-2007>Template:Cite news</ref>
Francis has described A Healthy Distrust as being a political record, which reflected his mistrust of government and big business with a focus on socio-political matters.<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015 />
In May 2007, a music video of the song "Got Up This Morning" from Human the Death Dance was released. The song featured vocals by Jolie Holland and beats produced by Buck 65. The video featured cameos from B. Dolan, Brother Ali, Buck 65, Divinci from Solillaquists of Sound, Holland, Slug, and Tom Inhaler from Francis' band and Strange Famous Records<ref name=Epitaph-GotUpThisMorning-MakingOf-2007>Template:Cite news</ref>
Life was a shift into a different style for Francis, focusing on spoken word and indie rock.<ref name=PopMatters-Life-Review-2010>Template:Cite news</ref> The record featured contributions and collaborations with Califone, Chris Walla, Jason Lytle, and Mark Linkous.<ref name=IllestLyrics-Life-2010 />
Francis made a guest appearance on Bad Religion's The Empire Strikes First, on the track "Let Them Eat War".
In 2014, Francis released Copper Gone after a four-year break from touring.<ref name=PopMatters-CopperGone-Review-2014>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ProvidenceJournal-CopperGone-2015>Template:Cite news</ref> The album was named after the phenomenon Francis saw in his neighborhood where abandoned buildings would have their copper pipes stripped to be sold, and then tagged as "Copper Gone" to let others know that there was no copper left to steal.<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015 />
Francis says that he has been releasing mix tapes consistently since 1999, and will continue to release the Sick of... mix tape series on an ongoing basis.<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015 />
Francis has toured extensively,<ref name=TheFilmGuys-GoingThroughHell-2016>Template:Cite news</ref> and has performed shows with Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and Eyedea & Abilities.
Epic Beard MenEdit
Francis collaborated with B. Dolan under the name Epic Beard Men. The duo's official debut single, "War on Christmas", was released in 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2018, the duo released the Season 1 EP,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as "Five Hearts", a single from the EP.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2019, the duo released the first studio album, This Was Supposed to Be Fun.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It includes "You Can't Tell Me Shit", which became The StrangerTemplate:'s "Inbox Jukebox Track of the Day".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album was placed at number 20 on PopMattersTemplate:' "20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2019" list.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Strange Famous RecordsEdit
Template:Further Francis is the founder and CEO of the independent hip hop record label Strange Famous Records. The label first began in 1996 as a way for him to release his previously unreleased songs in the late 1990s. It has since evolved into an official enterprise with an expanding roster of like-minded artists. He released several Sick Of mixtapes available on his website.<ref name=RT-BreakingTheSet-VonnegutBusy-2014 />
Social activismEdit
Francis worked with fellow rapper B. Dolan who had the idea to start an organization and website named KnowMore.org aka KnowMore: The People's Corporation Watch Project which focused on connecting consumers with social responsibility information about corporations and responsible consumerism.<ref name=IllestLyrics-Life-2010 />
Francis went to South Africa to work on solutions to AIDS in South Africa, especially in regards to children. As part of that effort he was part of a documentary on HIV in South Africa.<ref name=aboveGround-SouthAfrica-Doc-2011>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other workEdit
Francis is also part of the contemporary spoken word movement. His relationship with the Providence poetry slam community (he was on their 1998, 1999 and 2002 national poetry slam teams)<ref name=GotPoetry-PoetrySlams>Template:Cite news</ref> led to it being called "The House that Sage Francis Built."<ref name=WordsInYourFace-2008>Template:Cite book</ref> From 2000 to 2002, he also DJ-ed for the NYC-Urbana poetry slam, a weekly slam series held at the legendary punk rock venue CBGB.<ref name=WordsInYourFace-2008 />
DiscographyEdit
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- Studio albums
- Voice Mail Bomb Threat (1998) (with Art Official Intelligence)<ref name=HHKMusic-CopperGone-2015 />
- Personal Journals (Anticon, 2002)
- Hope (Lex, 2003) (with Joe Beats, as Non-Prophets)
- A Healthy Distrust (Epitaph, 2005)
- Human the Death Dance (Epitaph, 2007)
- Li(f)e (Anti-, 2010)
- Copper Gone (Strange Famous, 2014)
- This Was Supposed to Be Fun (Strange Famous, 2019) (with B. Dolan, as Epic Beard Men)
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Sage Francis at Strange Famous Records
- Strange Famous Records
- Template:Twitter
- Sage Francis at Epitaph Records