Sage Francis preview

Sage Francis
Abbey Pub, Chicago
Friday, July 6th, 2007
Saturday, July 7th, 2007

Make no mistake, Sage Francis, who won 1999’s Superbowl Battle and 2000’s Scribble Jam, considers himself retired from competitive battle rapping. “Won the biggest battle in a Metallica shirt before the album dropped/a week later smashed the trophy at a show/it was taking up the space that I needed to grow,” Francis says on “Underground For Dummies,” the second song from The Human Death Dance. But that doesn’t mean the spirit of battling doesn’t live on in his songs.

Francis’ fourth LP and second for Epitaph (he was the first hip-hop act signed to the predominately punk label) is split into two halves. Fans originally drawn to the rapper’s early battle reputation will find plenty satisfying on the first half, where a fiery Francis calls out and dissects corporate America, hip-hop culture, and the grind of the daily 9 to 5. He even plots a revenge fantasy against the hoods that robbed him in Amsterdam on “Clickety Clack.” The highlight, though, is “Midgets & Giants” where the decorated battle rapper addresses the wannabes who think battling is their passport to music stardom: “8 Mile wasn’t true, shithead/it was a promotional tool/but not for you, shithead.”

Then, something happens on the second half. Starting with “Keep Moving” Francis gets deeper, more emotional, and more personal. Careful calling it “emo” – he hates the term – but Francis elegantly lays out the troubles, mainly a life-changing divorce, that have haunted him since 2005’s A Healthy Distrust. Death Dance is one man, two different artists – the riled freestyler ready to go toe-to-toe and the smooth lyricist with heart on sleeve – and a lot of reasons why he has gained so much acclaim.

Buck 65 and Alias open both nights.

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly