Stay Human

Michael Franti is not your average hip-hop artist. There are no bitches or ho’s inhabiting his compositions, no exortations to move your booty round to his way of thinking and no naratives about how he and his homies are the hardest mo’fuckas on the block. Instead, Franti is the venom-spittin’, verbose architect of intelligent, anti-globalisation polemics that double as some of the funkiest choons this side of James Brown.

Franti’s anger is perhaps even more finely tuned now than in his Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy days. ‘Rock The Nation’ has Franti and Radio(Active) raining oral fire and brimstone on the multinational (“Give the corporation some complication”). While the soulful grooves of ‘Oh My God’ remain as smooth as a Des Lynam link, our hero is railing against the “Robbin’, cheatin’ stealin’ white collar criminal/ McDonald eatin’, you deserve a beatin…I feel so mad I wanna bomb an institution’”.

The title track is all laid-back summertime vibes that cry out to be played loud while the sun shines, with a singalong chorus that makes a mockery of most of the over-produced mush passing itself off as soul music these days. Franti has more real soul than a busload of R. Kelly’s: this man doesn’t think he can fly, he just lets himself soar without a safety net.

In between the songs, there is a mock radio show, a timely tale of how a particulary nasty southern State Governer (voiced by Woody Harrelson) is using the death penalty to score political points.

But it’s the music that we came for and, for the most part, we’re not disappointed.

The end result is a wonderful, life-affirming, soulful album of amazing warmth and sincerity. Even if Franti sometimes takes his humanitarianism to the nth degree, it is hard not to be seduced by his silver tongue and unerring sense of equality and justice for all.