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Sage FrancisA Healthy Distrust Epitaph/Shock I was surprised when I put this record on and heard a Wu-like introduction with a stern voice informing me that "you are listening to the heartbeat of the Sage", but not entirely unhappy; in a hip-hop scene that is often slow to reward innovation, one of the things to cherish about an artist like Sage Francis is the expectation that the unexpected lurks around the next corner. I'll admit that I was surprised at first when he played Sea Lion (a track that features Will Oldham) at his show last year, but it has quickly become one of my favourite tracks on the album. As cryptic as it is plaintive, this track sees Sage sad rather than angry, creating vivid imagery through his seemingly disconnected phrases that Dylan would be proud of, but once he gets fired up he trades this imagery for rhetoric. Whether he's denouncing the culture that glorifies guns (Gunz Yo) and alcohol (The Buzz Kill), or every aspect of society that he can think of (Slow Down Gandhi), one thing that you can rely on is that he will be fighting many battles. The earnestness of his message means that he comes across as more of an orator than a rapper, his message more important than the beat that he's rapping over; although on tracks like Slow Down Gandhi he proves that he can rock it for five minutes without missing a beat. It seems strange to praise him for rapping off-beat but a song like Sun Vs Moon would never be possible without it. The pressing pseudo-industrial backing is rendered unimportant as Sage spins a tale of an epic DJ battle between the sun and moon that is far closer to poetry than conventional hip-hop and the discontinuity between the two elements adds a tension that lends weight to the battle, but you can bet that an a capella version would sound just as cool. Sage's work has meaning because he doesn't shy away from his humanity no matter how intense he gets. Whether he's telling stories about his life or talking about concepts far bigger than himself, his ability with words is what makes him a great artist. This album, like all his others, is peppered with lines that deserve repetition but to take them out of the context of their songs seems entirely pointless, not because they would lose meaning, but because it gives the impression that the other lines are dispensable. If you are going to buy an album based on a single line, though, it's hard to find a better one than "I'm Hemorrhoid! I'm The Leader!" It's a line that only Sage would say, and this is an album that only he could make.  |
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