Sage Francis is smarter than your average rapper.  At least, he’s much more articulate.  A thoughtful and clever modern poet of sorts, Sage is a punk/underground hip hop icon and the owner and CEO of Strange Famous Records.  His new album, LI(F)E comes out May 11th and he’s released 2 singles for free download from his website.  ”Slow Man” is sure to please the real Sage fans, while “Best of Times” is a little more bold and ambitious.  The spoken word style is nothing new for the poetic rapper but it’s a remarkably well produced and presented song.  Sage is so talented and so clever that the song becomes an undeniable, irresistible anthem.  In his own words, the song is about “a string of raw and revealing moments from my upbringing that seem to have molded my adulthood. Vulnerable and embarrassing tidbits of info that sit in the back of my head at all times. The thesis of the song seems to be about how we tend to fool ourselves into thinking that the tough and embarrassing moments of our life are much bigger than they actually are. Especially as kids, when we believe that every obstacle we encounter seems like the end of the world. That’s probably the greatest lie of our lives. It’s a lie that is so convincing that some of us kill ourselves over it. It’s important to remember that when all seems lost it really isn’t. As the old credo goes, ‘This too shall pass.’”

MP3: Sage Francis – “Slow Man”

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MP3: Sage Francis – “Best of Times”

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LI(F)E (Strange Famous, May 2010)