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 | Sage FrancisA Healthy Distrust2005 Epitaph 
 Review by: pwfanatic See others by this writer Sage Francis (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on February 8th 2005
I remember when I heard of Epitaph signing Sage Francis. My first reaction wasn’t so much "what the hell" as it was "who the hell?" See, my blissfully narrow Winamp playlist never really had any hip-hop on it. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like it as my knowledge of the genre, like many of the general public, was the dime-a-dozen artists in rotation on MTV and BET. My first introduction to Sage was on one of the Punk-o-Rama compilations with his post-9/11 “Makeshift Patriot.” Needless to say, I was an instant fan.
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"...the beauty of A Healthy Distrust is that with each listen, the album gets that much better." This is such a good album. It makes me wanna get up, dance, and maybe smash the state a little. First off, quit with that bullshit that a punk site can't review hip hop, especially when the record at hand is under a punk label... so SHATTHEFAKUP!!! "i'm getting more into hip hop and really dig groups like a tribe called quest. give me a list of groups in that vein-you know, socially/political conscience, focusing on good, catchy beats, none of the nelly/jay z/dmx thug mtv rap bullshit." stop talking like a nigger i agree lil whytes beats are amazing his tie in with 3-6 mafia definitely owns, whytes low bass hits so hard in almost every one of his songs. he also raps about how he grew up in the ghetto of memphis. i also agree, sage francis eats my asshole sage francis eats my asshole if you want good white rap listen to lil whyte nuff said wait did some one down there diss cash money??? fuck you very true. ugly duckling, cage, really anything on eastern conference, as well as sage francis, yeah that shits all better Rap sounds better when it's done by white people. Anyone else notice that? Come on guys, I thought everyone knew MC Lars was the best rapper? I strongly urge you to take a look at pitchfork's review: It sounds to me like you're trying to draw an arbitrary lines to shield your support of sexism and homophobia... and sadly you'll feel comfortable in it because significant portions of our society have decided that such prejudices just aren't as offensive as other forms of discrimination. BSD- omg wut is this? www.NOTpunknews.com? hehehehehehehehelakdfj;adlkhf its called "The Documentary" not the "Democracy" BENEFIT. "Dre's lyrics talk about what he's "seen" and what living in those conditions does to someone. He glorifies nothing. You want glorified bullshit? Listen to Cash-Money" you are just surmising then, because if you listened to his work, you'd know that less than 5% of his work could be classified as hate speech. Hasty generalization. Dre's lyrics talk about what he's "seen" and what living in those conditions does to someone. He glorifies nothing. You want glorified bullshit? Listen to Cash-Money. So are white-power groups "poets" too? I definitely agree with you on that. Nas is one of the best lyricists around in hip hop today, and while he's not at the level he was on 'Illmatic,' he's still head and shoulders above a lot of the crowd. Nas may have a history of some pretty odd misogynist themes, even on his new album, but if you back to Illmatic, and take some key tracks from his last 3 albums, including the Lost Tapes collection, you can really see that he is a poet at heart, and a really smart guy to boot. All great artists have contradictions, and if you can get past those with someone like Nas, you'll find a great lyricist. Dre on the other hand, I respect him moreso for his production but.. eh, never was impressed by his words. Maybe you're the retard Sickboi. I've listened to both and there's no question but that both use glorified violence, sexism, occasional racism and homophobia as significant themes. Far too much, in fact, for it merely to be chalked up to parody or some "artistic" statement. (A point also supported by the corresponding music videos.) Retard below has never listened to Nas or Dre. Considering that a lot of SF's music criticizes typical gangsta-rap, the lifestyle it sells, and the people who buy into it, why are so many posters singing the praises of rappers like Nas, Dre, etc? This album is too much intellectual bullshit, hip-hop needs to get back to its roots. MCs need to rap about reality and things normal people can relate to, and my question is, who can't relate to candy? I NEED CANDY!!! BUBBLE GUM AND TAFFY!!! GET IN MY WAY PUNK YOUR GONNA GET YOUR ASS BEAT NASTY!!! i can't stand gangster hip hop/rap. fuck Notorius BIG. Try 8, and Tupac is 9, and was mentioned. Yeah, he's only been dead for 7 years. Nobody's mentioned the Notorious in this thread? i own all of they releazed EPs n they fizzull length n cant wait fo' they nizzy full length. they're on tha verge of being tha nizzext big thing n tha name Louis XIV wizzle be on tha tips of tha tongues of all those who recognize n appreciate bootylicious music if you gots a paper stack. big congrats ta mah local boys Louis XIV!!!... n ta all those who is skeptical shitheezees: you wanna be gangsta not messin' forget tha name bitches...Louis XIV if you gots a paper stack. Oh, fuck yes on the Wu-Tang. Shit, man. Don't think I missed the ball on that one. Deltron 3030 MC Chris is terrible. It's all about the Wu-Tang!! weerd science is the drummer from coheed and cambria i think anyone heard this weerd science cd equal vision is releasing? i heard the free mp3 and was pretty impressed. "iWarsawpack is so much better, and recieves so much less attention." where is the worlds apart review. cats are sleepin I like this but I like non-prophets-hope much better. The latest MF Doom is ill, go buy that too. The lyrics don't fit together well on this. It's like he has an idea, but gets sidetracked before he can finish his thought. Icapped2pac- Sickboi - Warsawpack is so much better, and recieves so much less attention. this album is the shit. also i heard some immortal technique for the first time last night (bad ass grimey NW mardi gras music!) and I thought that shit was tight Jesse- i'm just tired off all this grabage dre has produced recently, as for doctor dre. Snoop was good, but drop it like its hot was my third least favorite single of the past year in hip hop.. only beaten out by just lose it by eminem and that new 50 cent song "candy shop". It's sad because those rappers are all on the same label or at least subsidarys and those songs are so fucking shitty... and I still like eminems first cd alot. Yet, we're both staff reviewers...kinda makes you look stupid for making a comment like that. If we don't belong on the site, then why would we be staff reviewers? It's official, the two bitches below me don't belong on this site. I really disagree about your assessment of Dre. He's not the best rapper, but there are some songs where his flow is unmatched. Ex: 'Fuck With Dre Day.' That flow is so smooth. Saul Williams kills it. Public Enemy Kills it. Dre kills beats but raps like a two bit OG. Snoop has the potential for killer flows. Del had some really good stuff before it got more watered down and spread between all his projects. I liked the first two Atmosphere releases. Eydea has some of the craziest freestyle. Talib Kweli is amazing but I don't have any of his stuff yet. Black is beautiful and don't you forget it! MC Chris indeed. I meant "fucking call" on the saul williams thing!! Honeslty he/she is right go get saul williams cd off the fader label, it's amazingly good!! Score is for that album!! As for my stuff I like "You guys should listen to Saul Williams." He sucks. "Lil' Jon ripped off Mystikal, who in turn ripped off James Brown. Cut the shit and listen to James Brown." MC Chris The one rapper it's ok for punk kids to like. the new leak brothers is good, i got that, and nighthawks. waterworld is a great album. Nonphixion is great too. I'm gonna be honset, on our way to detorit to record our cd I bought the new lil jon cd, because I was like "this will be enetertaining for our drive, for good or for bad, definetly entertaining". Then after 4 songs I actually couldn't take it anymore. It really is barely music, although ridiculous, because between the first 4 songs i think theres maybe 2 verses, and lots of chanting.. for 5 minutes.. haha, it drove me completely insane. ANTICON BITCH! sole has the dopest flow in the world. alias is a fuckin lyrical genius. odd nosdam and dosh have the illest instrumentals. oh yeah if you dig sage then get the sick of...... series. Dude, the new One Be Lo is way better than F.E.T.U.S. That was really more just a mish-mash of random tracks he put together. The new one is way more cohesive, and the production is incredible if you like that golden age sound. Score's for S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. GOD DAMN, how could I forget to mention J-Live? Check out his albums "The Best Part" and "All of the Above" if you want ill thought-provoking lyrics and dope beats. But, judging by the new joints that DJ Premier has been playing on his weekly show on Sirius, whenever J comes with a new album, it'll be his best shit yet. How is the new One Be Lo. i got FETUS after he opened for slug, and thought it to be pretty decent. Not outstanding... I liked Blueprints stuff more... Soul Position. But it was still good and his live show enough to look into getting his new release. WHAT! Man, I can't help it. "Seriously though, people need to figure the fuck out that undergound punk and underground hip-hop run parralel tunnels. Anyone intereseted should check out Public Enemy for starters, then move on to the Coup, any artist on Definitive Jux, especially Mr. Lif, and then man up to Dead Prez if they can handle it." I don't usually listen to rap/hip-hop, but this really is great. I'd love to see him tour with Bad Religion one day, that'd be bloody excellent. Freddie Foxxx = great His rhymes are generally pretty good, but I like him better as a slam poet rather than a hip-hop emcee. What? No talk about bitches, ho's and my pimped out rides? Man, fuck this shit. This ain't hip-hop! Amazingly good record, not quite as good as "personal journals", but a masterpiece nonetheless. Glad to see it reviewed here! I listen to... Freddie Fox (aka Bumpy Knuckles)>all those wack-ass MC's out there today "Drinkin' Cris in the V.I., I don't give a fuck! Ii can't get into this crap at all. The vocals remind me of one of the guys from ICP when he sings take me to your local drug dealer(the free mp3 on epitaphs site). Mos Def all the way. 'I think cage is definetly my favorite rapper. What hip hop does everyone here listen to?' Lil' Jon ripped off Mystikal, who in turn ripped off James Brown. Cut the shit and listen to James Brown. Eyedea And Abilites, Afu-Ra, and Lil' Jon have been rocking my winamp playlist a lot lately. ok maybe not best ever, but up there. I think cage is definetly my favorite rapper. What hip hop does everyone here listen to? Rap sucks. Or hip-hop. Whatever. I haven't even heard a song from this album and yet I give it a 1. Good review. This is a great album in its own right, but Personal Journals is one of my favorite albums ever so I was bound to be let down. The beats are more interesting and complex on this album, but I feel like they sometimes get in the way of the words, and its the words that show Sage's genius. The lyrics certainly aren't dumbed down, but I don't they don't stick with me and make me think the way Personal Journals' do. Then again I discover new phrases and insights that make me smile every time I listen to Personal Journals, so I guess that may happen with this one as well... Best hip-hop ever? i'm getting more into hip hop and really dig groups like a tribe called quest. give me a list of groups in that vein-you know, socially/political conscience, focusing on good, catchy beats, none of the nelly/jay z/dmx thug mtv rap bullshit. This is a good cd, although it's funny that all of a sudden all these punk labels are signing hip hop groups. It's suddenly like "look, hip hop is cool, and politically consience!". Theres so many great rappers out there as there always have been and it's funny because most of this shit getting signed isn't even very good(i mean the gym class heroes, come on). But sage is good, straight edge white guy rap, whats not to love? my old school napster gets me free shit still! beat that suckas! "fuck you you fuckin winamp using caveman. obligatory public enemy comment "I don't think any hip-hop should be reviewed on a punk site." What's with those 3 X's? Is Sage down with the "edge"? don't get me wrong. i don't know a goddamn thing about hip-hop, but i do know a thing or two about this album, having listened to it quite a few times. I don't think we should let non-hip hop fans review hip hop. "It's hard to find good rap nowadays" Good review - I can't wait to get this. I don't think any hip-hop should be reviewed on a punk site. I don't think we should let non-hip hop fans review hip hop. I like bridle. This album is solid...Can't wait to see him live later this month. Heard "Slow Down Gandhi." Awesome song. It's hard to find good rap nowadays. When I find this album, I am so buying it. Why does every asshole have to judge hip-hop by what they see on MTV? It really fucking pisses me off more than any thing. To say Sage has more skill when compared to Eminem is fucking retarded as saying Dillinger Four is marginally better than Good Charolette. Are the "punks" always going to be retarded. It reminds me of high school when parents let there kids rebel to christian-era MXPX because they were afraid that they would smoking dope to Cop Killa. Luckily, I had friends in school that got kicked out of the Boy Scouts and exposed me to Sage. Assemblies meant packin bowls and playing Sick Of Waiting Tables! Seriously though, people need to figure the fuck out that undergound punk and underground hip-hop run parralel tunnels. Anyone intereseted should check out Public Enemy for starters, then move on to the Coup, any artist on Definitive Jux, especially Mr. Lif, and then man up to Dead Prez if they can handle it. Peace. fuck you you fuckin winamp using caveman. |
