Everything about Sage Francis totally explained
Paul "Sage" Francis (born
September 11,
1977 in
Miami, Florida) is a
hip-hop artist based in
Providence,
Rhode Island. Sage Francis' style blends a varying tone and delivery with subject matter that focuses on intricate sequences of widely varying imagery,
metaphors, the occasional
pun,
absurdism,
word play often times in the form of phonetic mix-ups and rhetorical excursions, and
pop culture references, while including touchstones of traditional hip hop such as storytelling and self-promotion.
Personal Life
Sage Francis holds two degrees, an AA in communications from Massachusetts' Dean College, and a BA in journalism from the
University of Rhode Island(External Link
).
Career
During the mid-
1990s, he recorded his first demo tape (1996), fronted the now defunct Providence hip-hop band
Art Official Intelligence, and hosted a weekly slot on independent radio station
WRIU (the "True School Session"). He also formed the
Non-Prophets, a group that released a 12” ("Drop Bass/Bounce/I Keep Calling," Emerge Records, 1999), following up in 2003 with their first full-length offering,
Hope. Francis is a contemporary of
underground hip-hop artists such as
Slug,
Aesop Rock, and the
anticon. collective. He is also loosely affiliated with the vague underground hip-hop super-group
The Orphanage.
As a battle rapper, Francis won the 2000
Scribble Jam, a competition considered to be the most sought after prize in the freestyle battling scene. He then came back the next year to finish as a semifinalist. Francis set up his own record label
Strange Famous Records through which he's put out the majority of his records, mostly collections of live songs, radio freestyles and spoken word tracks.
After building up a reputation and cult following, thanks largely to his self compiled and released albums and the internet, he released the track that would add "outspoken hip-hop artist" to his list of reputations, and through internet downloading, expose him to many more people. On October 11, exactly one month after the
September 11, 2001 attacks, he wrote and recorded that track - "
Makeshift Patriot". The track was released that day as an
MP3 and later in several formats. In 2003, the track was featured on
Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8. This exposed Francis' music to a whole new market, and he's said that many fans tell him that this was their first exposure to hip-hop music.
Francis released his first proper solo album,
Personal Journals, on
anticon. Records in 2002. Francis subsequently became one of the first hip-hop artists to sign with Punk label
Epitaph Records, agreeing to a three-album deal. His first album for Epitaph,
A Healthy Distrust, was released in early 2005.
In 2004, Francis appeared on-stage at
Rock the Bells in
San Bernardino, CA. This concert was notable for having been the final (and first in several years) performance of the entire 9-member
Wu-Tang Clan.
In 2005, Francis, along with poet
B. Dolan started up a non-profit organization
Knowmore, Inc. for the purpose of running Knowmore.Org
(External Link), a website with the goal of being a database of information that critically examines every aspect of corporations and political issues.
From the 23rd to the 29th of October, 2006, an art exhibit, 'If a girl writes off the world' (taken from a line the Non-Prophets track 'The Cure') based on Francis' lyrics was held in Brick Lane, London. The exhibit contained artwork in a range of media by artist
Sarah Coleman. Francis performed a 40 minute acapella set at the private viewing.
Francis is currently working on the soundtrack of director
Gavin O'Connor's film
Pride and Glory.
Mark Isham is composing the music to which Francis is writing lyrics, speaking the conscience of the main character, played by
Edward Norton.
Whilst eschewing the label of being
straight edge, Francis abstains from drinking alcohol and taking drugs. In response to his refusal to identify as straight edge, Francis stated that one shouldn't "define yourself by what you don't do" in an interview by Headcase Live. Along with his abstinence from intoxicants, he also often references his
vegetarianism in his lyrics and has appeared in promotional material for
PETA. In 2006, he was featured in PETA's "sexiest vegetarian" competition. Francis used his website to encourage people to vote for him in the male category, and
Natalie Portman, (with whom he's a slight obsession, mentioning her in lyrics, and even going as far as selling a t-shirt, parodying
André the Giant Has a Posse, with the words "Natalie Portman has a stalker" written next to a picture of his face) in the female category.
In lyrics and on merchandise, Francis often falsely cites his birthdate as being in 1968. However, in the song
Black Sweatshirt, he states he was "born in the 70s of the 20th Century".
Although Francis has collaborated with many other hip-hop MCs, including
Slug,
Brother Ali,
Sixtoo,
Saul Williams and
Apathy among others, Francis has stated that he isn't a big fan of hip-hop collaborations in general. He has a rule of not having guest MCs on any of his official album releases, and all of his hip-hop collaborations appear either in his
Sick Of series, on singles, or on other artists' releases.
As Xaul Zan
Francis also raps under the alias Xaul Zan. A fan of metal music, Francis has explained that Xaul is a 'vent of many sorts'
(External Link), representative of this side of Sage's character. Whilst no records have been released under this alias, Sage has appeared as 'Xaul Zan' on other artist's records (such as
Kool Keith's "Live Dissection" song) and the
Sick Of Waging War and
Ho albums contain some tracks credited to 'Xaul Zan' as performer. Francis also often references or mentions the alias in his lyrics and
freestyle raps.
Discography
Main Albums
Mix albums
Sick Of Waiting...(1999)
Still Sick... Urine Trouble (Strange Famous Records, 2000)
Sick Of Waiting Tables (Strange Famous Records, 2001)
The Known Unsoldier, "Sick Of Waging War..." (Strange Famous Records, 2002)
Sickly Business (Strange Famous Records, 2004)
Still Sickly Business (Strange Famous Records, 2005)
Live albums
Dead Poet, Live Album (Strange Famous Records, 2004)
Road Tested (2003-2005) (Strange Famous Records, 2005)
Instrumental albums
Human the Death Dance Instrumentals (2007)
Remix albums
Sage Francis Reanimated (Strange Famous Records, 2009)
Singles and EPs
Bounce b/w Drop Bass (Non-Prophets) (Emerge Music, 1999)
All Word, No Play (Non-Prophets) (Emerge Music, 2000)
Makeshift Patriot (Strange Famous Records and HipHopSite Wax, 2001)
Sage Frenchkiss (Strange Famous Records and Wheatabeat, 2002)
Climb Trees (anticon., 2002)
Makeshift Patriot EP (anticon., 2003)
The Damage EP (Non-Prophets) (Lex Records, 2004)
Slow Down Gandhi (Epitaph Records, 2004)
Sea Lion (with Will Oldham) (Epitaph Records, 2005)
Releases Featured
A Work In Progress, a single by Sixtoo, Francis performs vocals on Testimony (anticon., 2001)
Songs I Hate (And Other People Moments), an album by Sixtoo, Francis performs vocals on When Freedom Rings (anticon., 2001)
Salt on Everything, an EP by Sole, Francis performs vocals on My Head Hurts (anticon., 2002)
Swedishish EP, an EP by Double Deez, Francis performs vocals on Try Your Best (Blenda, 2002)
Trying to Find a Balance, a single by Atmosphere, Francis performs vocals on A Song We Made With Sage
Sleep No More, an album by DJ Signify, Francis performs vocals on Kiddie Litter, Haunted House Party and Cup Of Regret (Lexoleum Records, 2004)
The Empire Strikes First, an album by Bad Religion, Francis performs guest vocals on Let Them Eat War (Epitaph Records, 2004)
Teeth - A Statler & Waldorf Compilation, features the track Fashion by Pellarin, on which Francis performs vocals (Statler & Waldorf, 2004)
Ritual of the... Revisited and Remastered, a compilation album by Molemen, Francis performs vocals on Follow Me (Molemen Records, 2004)
Nogatco Rd., an album by Mr. Nogatco aka Kool Keith, Xaul Zan performs vocals on Live Dissection (Insomniac Records, 2006)
Run On Anything, an album by Buddy Wakefield, Francis performs vocals on I Got Gone (Strange Famous Records, 2006)
The Love Potion Collection 3, an album by Mac Lethal, Francis performs vocals on Rapz of Death (Black Cover, 2006)
Moments in Movement an album by Macromantics, Francis performs vocals on Locksmith (Remote Control Records, 2006)
DVDs
Life is Easy (Strange Famous Records, 2005)
Other
Home Grown Demo Tape (1996)
Voice Mail Bomb Threat (as Art Official Intelligence, 1998)
Unofficial Releases
Love Love Love, a 7" by Joey Beats, Francis performs vocals on Love Love Love (GoodFoot Records, 2005)
External links and further reading
Official Sage Francis website
Strange Famous Records
Strange Famous Forum
KnowMore: The People's Corporation Watch Project
A Healthy Distrust Review
Interview for Slap Magazine
Interview for Scene Missing Magazine
Sage Francis Interview with Chuck D, Disclosing his birth date.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sage Francis'.
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