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Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966, in Oakland, California) is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is of African, Italian, and German descent. Franti is the creator and driving force behind Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock.

Musical biography

Franti was part of the industrial punk band The Beatnigs with DJ Rono Tse, which released a self-titled LP, and an EP Television on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles records, which achieved high status according to many reviewers.

His next project, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, found Franti continuing his collaboration with Tse, and working with jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter, and electronic musicians Mark Pistel (Consolidated) and Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto). The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy wrote biting, progressive lyrics that railed against the injustice of the world and yearned for democratic reform, set to a fusion of industrial and hip hop. Their first album won acclaim for its social commentary, and they were chosen by U2 to open for their Zoo TV Tour.

Franti and the Disposable Heroes put together another record of music accompanying novelist William Burroughs' readings for an album entitled Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales. This album diverged greatly from the style of the band's previous work, as they were largely providing musical background and accompaniment to Burroughs' spoken readings from several of his books.

In 1994, Franti formed a new band called Spearhead. While he continued to create politically and socially conscious lyrics, Spearhead's music drew more from funk and soul than the industrial sound of his previous groups. Spearhead released their first album, Home, in September of 1994. Their follow up album Chocolate Supa Highway was released in March of 1997. It should be noted that these two albums were released under the band name "Spearhead", while the name on all subsequent albums would be "Michael Franti & Spearhead". This is because their first two albums were released by Capitol Records. After the release of "Chocolate Supa Highway" their manager at Capitol Records kept on trying to get them to do duo's with people like Will Smith. They were not impressed and thus, made their own record label, "Boo-Boo Wax." The reason for the name change is Capital owns the rights to the name "Spearhead," not for any other reason.

At the time, some in the rap community attempted to dismiss Franti's critique of the rampant, overt violence present in gangsta rap by ridiculing Franti's white adoptive parents. But Franti's supporters note that he pushes for peace and justice regardless of race, and attempts to address contemporary social issues in America such as AIDS, homelessness, kidnapping, police brutality and the death penalty. They also note that he is a tireless crusader for peace in the Middle East, having recently returned from a visit to several countries in the region. Franti is also vegan.

In 1999, Franti retreated from the major-label grind to explore his music and politics. He returned the following year as an organizer and cultural worker tied to the rising movements against the death penalty, the prison-industrial complex and corporate globalization, voicing his observations through his music.

Stay Human was released in 2000 on his own indie label, Boo Boo Wax and Six Degrees. The album's themes are justice and survival, touching on issues like media monopolization and incarceration. In an interview, Franti talks about what his message is now: "Half the record is songs about what's happening in the world right now, and the other half is about how we cope with it as people who are concerned about what's going on," he says. "This spectre of war, intimidation, this nation vs. the rest of the world, it wears us out. Half the record is a healthy dose of venting anger about that, and the other half is about how do we hold on to our spirituality, our community and our connectedness to each other." [1]

Everyone Deserves Music was released in 2003. Franti composed many of the songs from his guitar and, like fellow 21st century cultural globalists Manu Chao and Ozomatli, continues to synthesize his eclectic influences. In a departure from the noise of the Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes, and the minimalism of early Spearhead, Franti's affirming lyrics are now set to appropriately swelling rock chords, while keeping a world-wise groove nodding towards reggae, dancehall, bossa nova, Afrobeat, and funk. Anthems like the title track "Everyone Deserves Music", "Yes I Will" and "Bomb The World" are constructed with a nod to the '80s rock of The Clash and U2, as well as classic soul from Stax and Motown. The song "We Don't Stop" (featuring Gift of Gab from Blackalicious and Spearhead's rapper/beatbox technician Radioactive) even manages to bridge the two sounds in a "Magnificent Seven" style mash-up. And on "Love Why Did You Go Away" and "What I Be", Franti reveals an alluring, sensual singing voice. Two gems, "Pray For Grace" and "Bomb The World (Armageddon Version)" pair Franti with the reggae/funk giants Sly and Robbie (Grace Jones, Rolling Stones, Black Uhuru, No Doubt), collaborations designed to move minds and bodies. Everyone Deserves Music might be called a movement record dedicated to the preservation of "the motion of the hips." Also in 2003, Franti released a solo album, Songs from the Front Porch. Unlike all of his previous albums, Songs from the Front Porch is entirely acoustic and contains rearrangements of older songs from Chocolate Supa Highway, Stay Human and Everyone Deserves Music as well as new material.

Franti continues to hit the festival circuit worldwide, in addition to producing the annual "Power to the Peaceful" festival, which has drawn more than 20,000 people to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco over the past seven years. In both popular music and the peace movement, Franti has never been more relevant and influential. Lyrics from his song "Bomb The World", written in the dark aftermath of September 11, have found their way onto protest signs and T-shirts all over the world from Los Angeles to Berlin, San Francisco to CNN, as millions have marched for peace. "You can bomb the world to pieces," he sings, "but you can't bomb it into peace."

On July 25, 2006, Michael Franti & Spearhead released their new album, entitled Yell Fire!, inspired by Franti's trip to war-torn Baghdad, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In an effort to share his experiences from his trip and to explore the human cost of war, Franti produced a movie entitled "I Know I'm Not Alone", using the songs from his album "Yell Fire!" as a soundtrack.

Michael Franti & Spearhead played alongside Gov't Mule, John Brown's Body , Keller Williams, Robert Randolph & the Family Band and others on June 3, 2006 at the second annual Mountain Jam 2006. During Keller Williams set, with limited instruments due to a mixup Michael Franti came out and performed a improvised song titled "Michael Franti Rap".

Michael Franti & Spearhead appear on the August 15, 2006 soundtrack to the Samuel L. Jackson movie Snakes on a Plane with the track "Hey Now Now", originally from the Yell Fire album.Michael Franti continues to inspire youth and adults from all backgrounds and ethnicities.

Politics

"Right now, people ask me, 'What can one person do to change what's going on with the world?' I don't know what one person can do except to connect with other people. In doing that, each of us play our roles," he says. "My role is as a storyteller and a songwriter. I'm somebody who is trying to keep the spirits of other people up, despite all the chaos and fear around us"

In the summer of 2004, Franti travelled with a group of friends to Iraq, the territories within the Palestinian Authority, and Israel. He brought video cameras and a guitar with the intent of exploring the human cost of war.

A compelling soundtrack, visual and musical montages, and Franti's intimate voiceovers make the film speak to the MTV, X, Y & Z generations, as well as the baby boomers. With its guerrilla style footage captured in active war zones, the documentary is unlike the many academic and politically driven pieces in the marketplace, instead offering the audience a sense of intimate travel and the opportunity to hear the voices of everyday people living, creating and surviving under the harsh conditions of war and occupation. see also I know I'm not alone

Miscellaneous

• Since 2000, he has been walking through life barefoot except, occasionally, for going on an airplane or into a restaurant when he wears flip-flops. Franti feels there is a division in the world between the consumer nations who buy shoes and the nations where people make shoes but can't afford them. He initially decided to go for three days without shoes, and has done so ever since.

Discography

See also

• 1 Giant Leap
• Snakes on a Plane: The Album

External links

• Stay Human - official website
• SpearheadVibrations - official website
• Power to the Peaceful - official website
• I know I'm not alone - official website
• Official Myspace Page
• Michael Franti and Spearhead collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• FreakyandFree - fansite from Australia
• LoveIsDaShit - fansite from USA
• Power to the Peaceful - fansite from Belgium
• Spearhead-Home - fansite from Germany
• Michael Franti
• Mother Jones: Interview with Michael Franti
• Being There: Review of Yell Fire!
• Go behind-the-scenes with Michael Franti on KQED's Spark
• Listen to Michael Franti's song Bomb The World
• Turtle Vision photo gallery of Michael Franti

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