hiphop-elements.com

Epitaph 2005

1.) The Buzz Kill - 3/5
2.) Sea Lion feat. Wll Oldham - 4/5
3.) Gunz Yo - 4/5
4.) Escape Artist - 3/5
5.) Product Placement - 4/5
6.) Voice Mail Bomb Threat - Interlude
7.) Dance Monkey - 3/5
8.) Sun Vs. Moon - 3/5
9.) Agony In Her Body - 3/5
10.) Crumble - 2/5
11.) Ground Control - 3/5
12.) Lie Detector Test - 4/5
13.) Bridle - 4/5
14.) Slow Down Ghandi - 5/5
15.) Jah Didn't Kill Johnny - 0/5

Sage Francis is an emcee people either love or hate. His fan base is thick with people who come from different genre-types to hear Sage bust his raps. Those that don't like him think he's some Anticon based emcee with plenty of emo thrown in for good measure.
First let me say that Sage Francis is still, to this day, one of my favourite (if not my number one) emcees. I think the man has plenty of skills and that both his "Personal Journals" LP and "Sick of..." series were dope as hell.
His new long player does not carry on from where "Persnal Journals" left no matter how many reviews say it does. The most notable thing on his new LP is that Sage's choice in beats has much to be desired and whereas he's spent time trying to disassociate himself with Anticon he's only got closer to sounding like their typicalsound. Dare I say "punk rap"?
But there are highly enjoyable moments mostly found when Sage tones it down a bit. "Lie Detector Test" and "Bridle" but compliment each other superbly only to make way for the raw, yet highly accessible "Slow Down Ghandi".
Sage is a talented emcee who obviously takes pride in his lyrical capability. Here he shows what he can do on numerous occasions although sometimes gets lost in his own effort and his beats mesh with his rhymes to just make heavy noise.
Good album? No. I'd simply say it's mediocre but I do have a feeling it's one of those that'll grow on me much like "Personal Journals". Is Mr Sage Francis taking himself too seriously? Well, I'll await to see if he does another superb Non Prophets album to find out.

3/5

it suits them very well.

Glad I read this before I bought it. I guess I'll be downloading this one again.

I've now listened and I totally disagree. The production is fucking killer, if totally different. This album is being hated on everywhere, but I for one like it. Just like The New Danger, so fresh that most just don't get it I guess.

Or maybe you just like shitty music.

After one quick listen through, it's decent, though there's some very iffy production. Almost nothing in the entire album has stuck with me, which is either a testament to the album's cohesiveness or to my lack of attention. I'm not sure which one yet.

"Bridle" is great and "Jah Didn't Kill Johnny" is incredibly interesting.

Haha... I didn't realize how condescending my original sounded until now. Relax, we've all got our own tastes. Sage has always been the sort of rapper that isn't for everybody, and this album is no exception.

Yeah but I like Sage. I'm just not a fan of this album. But I'll give it a few more listens and see if it grows on me.

its the latter believe me.

I've always disliked Sage. And will continue to do so..

Yeah, I was just fuckin around. I loved his Sick of... series and Personal Journals but what I heard from this and the Non-Prophets album didn't do it for me.

this album is DOPE


"gunz yo, sex ma sex machine"

haha i fuckin love it... maybe i'm just a backpacker...

but i find this very close to Personal Journals. 4/5

Should I listen to this cracka?

i'd say so...and give it a thorough listen...


and Marbles, i highly disagree with your 0.5 for "jah didn't kill johnny" i would give that a 5/5... i'm not sure if u've heard of Johnny Cash in the uK? but i'm glad that someone finally acknowledged his death, and imo is a dope song... very sad... made me almost shed a tear =[

I've heard of Johnny Cash but I didn't realize the track was about him. I just found it a tacky gimmick and not really worthy of being on the album. I must admit I listened to it again last night and it is growing on me. I would've given "Personal Journals" 2/5 after the first listen.
I just don't think this album has as many stand out tracks as his early stuff. He's trying to be too eccentric and that's not a good thing.

An interesting read i got off spikicker....

From NY Times

MUSIC REVIEW | SAGE FRANCIS
What's Left After Bling, Boasts and Odd Beats

By KELEFA SANNEH

Why is it so hard to be an underground hip-hop hero? Perhaps because the mainstream hip-hop heroes have already claimed so much of the best turf for themselves.

"I like 99 rappers, but Jay-Z ain't one," Sage Francis declared at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night. And to prove it, he steered clear of all things Jay-Z-ish. That meant no slick outfits (the rapper and his band all wore black jumpsuits), no jewelry, no high-life boasts or low-life threats. But it also meant no impossibly smooth stanzas filled with hidden jokes and counterrhythms; no mesmerizing stories or irresistible refrains; no state-of-the-art beats or propulsive club tracks.

What was left? Lots of bitter sarcasm, for starters. Mr. Francis, a white rapper, has built his career on a foundation of rage and disillusionment: when he said, "This song is about how awesome guns are," listeners knew he meant the opposite; when he began the show with a verse that started, "I used to think that rappers had it figured out," everyone knew that he was about to explain how wrong he'd been.

Mr. Francis has spent the past few years amassing a cult of fans who prefer the overwrought to the overproduced. He delivers his heavy-handed barrages with the single-minded fury of a punk rock singer, which might be one reason that his new album, "A Healthy Distrust," was released by the punk label Epitaph. (To get a taste of the fractious, obsessive world of Sage Francis fans, visit the energetic Internet forum, inhalerproductions.com/forum/index.php, that he calls home.

The album has lots of densely written rhymes and even a tune or two (the indie-rock singer Will Oldham contributes a chorus), but it's still no fun to listen to: there are some clever couplets ("In a world where the girls got retro tattoos/ All I've got is a gut and Velcro black shoes"), but his harangues don't give them room to breathe.

At Bowery Ballroom, Mr. Francis's backup rappers (two women, one man) sometimes added some playful energy by pairing off, boy-against-girl, trading gruff lines for sing-song ones. But the most ambitious new songs sounded even worse live. A drawn-out version of "Sun Vs Moon" only highlighted the ill-considered lyrics: "God's not a woman/ He's a big white guy in the sky/ And the deserts are reflections of his eyes." (And he wonders why some rappers stick with crime and clubs?)

This was a night overrun with words, so perhaps it's no surprise that the highlight was all words: an a cappella version of "Slow Down Gandhi," his bitter but ambivalent protest poem. Whispering and shouting and singing and talking, Mr. Francis lambasted both warmongers and pacifists, getting closer and closer to his perverse goal: he's a rapper who dreams of being a lecturer.


Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

LOL


NY Times... mawhhahah ...that's dope...


good job Sage...

backpackers would kick your ass for saying that

i havent liked the few songs i heard by this dude, and these reviews aint helpin...i dont know what i heard exactly, but it was some shit loogie sent me a while back that he tried to tell me was dope, but it wasn't imo. i don't know tho...maybe i'll peep out that personal journals.

It's growing on. "Sea Lion" is actually super duper incredible dope. The remix isn't.