Anti-

You don’t hear many songs that include a rap mentioning both colon cancer and Wal-Mart but maybe it’s just that type of blunt, in-your-face discussion of everyday struggles that sets Li(f)e by Sage Francis apart from other hip-hop records. With songs by Tim Fite, Chris Walla, Jason Lytle and even Mark Linkous, who committed suicide on March 6, Francis debates religion, cultural icons, loyalty, drugs – you name it. This guy knows what he believes and he puts it out there. What’s cool about Francis is that even when his opinions are startling, he knows how to make them palatable – weaving in his often elegant, always throbbing instrumentation and catchy choruses – thus perhaps opening more than a few minds. “Wasn’t trying to be no hip-hop god,” Francis sings. Too late.