While I generally have an open mind in regards to all types of music I am
slightly picky when it comes to hip hop. It seems as if for every 10 songs
about rims there are 2 that are about love, politics, etc. You probably
won't ever find any songs about "bling" on this site but you will find some
people that know how to tell you something worth remembering. One artist
that does this for me as much as anyone is Sage Francis. His album, "A
Healthy Distrust." was one of my favorites of last year and even though we
are creeping towards the end of this year I still listen too it often. These
days Sage is working on a new album and today I noticed that he released a
song that chronicled all of the issues that he had in 2005 and anything new
by Sage, even it is just one b-side type track, is a reason to post. For
good measure I posted up some other songs that you may not have heard from
SF.
:Sage Francis - Ode to 2005:
- My Ode to 2005
2005 was a very trying year. It tried me. It tried me out. It tried to break
friends of mine. And loved ones. And there was a lot of loss. We ushered in
the new year with gun shots. We killed 2005 and pissed all over it's fake
face. Out with the old, in with the new. My house remained haunted though.
To exorcise some ghosts out of my system, I wrote my Ode to 2005, which only
touches on my personal situation. I've been performing this song as a spoken
word piece at my shows. I recorded it to a beat that an English producer
named Kurt SP gave me 4 or 5 years ago. I really like the mellow nature of
the beat, so I gave it a whirl. After a few (hundred) listens I have decided
that this isn't the ultimate fate of the song. And maybe it won't make my
upcoming album, even with new music. But with that being said, I want to put
it out there. Because 2006 will be over in no time and the further I get
away from 2005 the less relevant it becomes for me. So here's a new
non-album track for you to enjoy, criticize, and/or share with people who
also had a rough 2005.
This was the message that Sage Francis posted up with the song and I have to
say that it says just about everything that I would say about the song. I
love the mellow music with Sage's lyrics on how 2005 was not a year that he
would ever want to re-live. Give it a listen and take notice to how
everything about the song screams closure.
:Sage Francis - Stuck featuring Atmosphere:
This song is from the "Sea Lion" EP that came out before "A Healthy
Distrust." I do not want to say that it includes fellow emo hip hop duo
Atmosphere but there are times when Sage feels more emo then anything else.
The structure of the song feels more Atmosphere then Sage but there are a
few things scattered about that will stand out to those familiar with SF.
There are a lot of crafty lines in this song but my favorite is "Stop
thinking you don't belong here, you are where you are because you hardly
move." If only those people who never do anything to improve their situation
could hear that one...
:Sage Francis - Different: I started to post
up the version of "Sea Lion" that has Saul Williams but I decided to go a
little further back and share something from "Personal Journals." This is my
favorite song from that album and I think I like it so much because of how
honest it feels, especially with lines like "I know I was suppose to change
the world and all but the world got too me first." I love lines like that
one and every song from this guy is full of little gems like that. One more
interesting thing that I would like to note about this song, and all of his
work, is that the music is never anything mind blowing but it always makes
the listener focus on the most important part of the song, the lyrics.
Enjoy.
-
John Laird -
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