Sage Francis Interview: Part 1
By Kyle Eustice
Providence, Rhode Island-based artist Sage Francis is never one to shy away from what he's thinking or feeling, and he'll gladly drag you right along for the ride. The independent hip-hop artist has been navigating a successful career since releasing his 2002 debut, Personal Journals. Armed with a penchant for crafting highly intelligible and spoken word-style lyrics, he's considered one of the best in the field. Although still running his own label, Strange Famous Records, he's been relatively quiet since 2010's L(I)fe, but put out a new mix tape called Sick to Death on December 12, 2013. Most recently, he released a video for the single, "Blue," which takes a deep dive into the psychology of war and being a soldier. The song was inspired in part by a conversation Francis had with an Iraqi war veteran who survived a helicopter crash. It's political stuff, which is hardly unfamiliar territory for the rapper. Francis is also gearing up to release a proper full-length album, Copper Gone, which drops June 3, 2014. Check out http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/ for more information.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): I read a little bit about you saying that integrity is a key element to your success as a label and I was just curious if you could expand on that a little bit. What does that mean to you?
Sage Francis: Sometimes it means passing on opportunities that others would jump at because maybe the money's right or maybe the money's enticing but the cosigning on our part for either our product or another artist just doesn't feel right. It just means sticking to our guns in a way where we're like, we have our set core values, we have seen hip-hop change in a number of ways over the years, but there is a core standard that I personally stick to and not everyone has to live by that law at Strange Famous and obviously we have all different types of people on the label, but I think what it boils down to sometimes is if I get a weird vibe from people to where I'm like, 'I don't know if I would trust these people with my cash.' Um, I don't fuck with 'em. [Laughs] Or maybe that's because they're really evil or maybe just because they're stupid.
Or you just don't vibe together...
No, yeah. I can't even really put my finger on it, but I try to go with my gut a lot of the time and it's worked out well for me so far. Even though it's come with its obstacles and I definitely found myself in situations where I'm like, 'you know' I look back and say, 'maybe I should have done that, but fuck it.' We're moving forward now.
What are some of those core values that you mentioned?
Here's one example, If there's gay bashing, you know if someone's saying, 'faggot this, faggot that' in their songs. I feel like hip-hop's evolved past that kind of stuff. But there's still a section in it where people think that that's still cool and that actually is hip-hop to be like that. So it’s kinda to draw the line on little things like that. Which, they're little things, but they're big things and it's the same thing with females and hip-hop. I think a lot of females have felt pushed away or made to feel like they're not actually participants in the culture. They're just there to be talked at. Yeah, I mean this is something that we've been doing in the independent scene for a long time. Coming up where we made a conscious effort not to make the kind of songs that would push the female audience away. We wanted to make sure they feel included. Now here I am running a label and there's no female artists on it, but that's not without effort on my part. We have actually reached out and I've toured with a number of female emcees or worked with a lot of females, always on tour and I try to include as many different types of people as I can, but I'm also a very private and I guess a reclusive person. So I don't have a ton of people in my circle to begin with. It's a very small, tight circle.
I've known you, and I think I met you for the very first time in 2007 at the Gothic Theatre in Denver and we had done the interview and I had said something so stupid. I was nervous and I said, 'uh what's your name again? Oh I'm just kidding, oh wait.' I didn't know what to say [laughs]. And then I talked to you again and then this is like the third time over a few years that I've spoken to you.
Glad you stuck with us...
I'm glad you said "yes" to the interview.
Exclusive: Sage Francis - The RAPstation Interview: Part 1
Sage Francis Interview: Part 1
By Kyle Eustice
Providence, Rhode Island-based artist Sage Francis is never one to shy away from what he's thinking or feeling, and he'll gladly drag you right along for the ride. The independent hip-hop artist has been navigating a successful career since releasing his 2002 debut, Personal Journals. Armed with a penchant for crafting highly intelligible and spoken word-style lyrics, he's considered one of the best in the field. Although still running his own label, Strange Famous Records, he's been relatively quiet since 2010's L(I)fe, but put out a new mix tape called Sick to Death on December 12, 2013. Most recently, he released a video for the single, "Blue," which takes a deep dive into the psychology of war and being a soldier. The song was inspired in part by a conversation Francis had with an Iraqi war veteran who survived a helicopter crash. It's political stuff, which is hardly unfamiliar territory for the rapper. Francis is also gearing up to release a proper full-length album, Copper Gone, which drops June 3, 2014. Check out http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/ for more information.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): I read a little bit about you saying that integrity is a key element to your success as a label and I was just curious if you could expand on that a little bit. What does that mean to you?
Sage Francis: Sometimes it means passing on opportunities that others would jump at because maybe the money's right or maybe the money's enticing but the cosigning on our part for either our product or another artist just doesn't feel right. It just means sticking to our guns in a way where we're like, we have our set core values, we have seen hip-hop change in a number of ways over the years, but there is a core standard that I personally stick to and not everyone has to live by that law at Strange Famous and obviously we have all different types of people on the label, but I think what it boils down to sometimes is if I get a weird vibe from people to where I'm like, 'I don't know if I would trust these people with my cash.' Um, I don't fuck with 'em. [Laughs] Or maybe that's because they're really evil or maybe just because they're stupid.
Or you just don't vibe together...
No, yeah. I can't even really put my finger on it, but I try to go with my gut a lot of the time and it's worked out well for me so far. Even though it's come with its obstacles and I definitely found myself in situations where I'm like, 'you know' I look back and say, 'maybe I should have done that, but fuck it.' We're moving forward now.
What are some of those core values that you mentioned?
Here's one example, If there's gay bashing, you know if someone's saying, 'faggot this, faggot that' in their songs. I feel like hip-hop's evolved past that kind of stuff. But there's still a section in it where people think that that's still cool and that actually is hip-hop to be like that. So it’s kinda to draw the line on little things like that. Which, they're little things, but they're big things and it's the same thing with females and hip-hop. I think a lot of females have felt pushed away or made to feel like they're not actually participants in the culture. They're just there to be talked at. Yeah, I mean this is something that we've been doing in the independent scene for a long time. Coming up where we made a conscious effort not to make the kind of songs that would push the female audience away. We wanted to make sure they feel included. Now here I am running a label and there's no female artists on it, but that's not without effort on my part. We have actually reached out and I've toured with a number of female emcees or worked with a lot of females, always on tour and I try to include as many different types of people as I can, but I'm also a very private and I guess a reclusive person. So I don't have a ton of people in my circle to begin with. It's a very small, tight circle.
I've known you, and I think I met you for the very first time in 2007 at the Gothic Theatre in Denver and we had done the interview and I had said something so stupid. I was nervous and I said, 'uh what's your name again? Oh I'm just kidding, oh wait.' I didn't know what to say [laughs]. And then I talked to you again and then this is like the third time over a few years that I've spoken to you.
Glad you stuck with us...
I'm glad you said "yes" to the interview.
