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  Release Date: February 8, 2005
  Website: Sage Francis Website
  Label: Epitaph

Sage Francis “A Healthy Distrust” Album Review
I just finished my second reading of William Shakespeare’s Othello this week, interestingly enough during the same time period in which I was studying Sage Francis’ new album, “A Healthy Distrust.”

Although I consider myself a pretty literary-knowledgeable person, I must honestly confess that I can’t pick up the majority of what Shakespeare was saying in the play. There’s so much Old English language and seemingly ancient vocabulary that is too far beyond my understanding to comprehend.

Luckily, newer versions of the classic tragedy contain close to a page of footnoted explanations to go along with each page of unreadable text, allowing the average person to develop a commonly accepted understanding of the play. All week, I couldn’t help wishing that Sage’s album had the same kind of footnotes. Francis speaks in such an incomparable combination of spoken word rhymes, metaphorical stories and comical sarcasm that makes it almost impossible for anyone to completely understand the full artistic extent or context of his lyrics. However, as I listened to the album again and again, I realized that I was actually glad that the album contained no footnoted explanations. I began formulating my own ideas based on the way I heard and understood Sage’s lyrics. And although I am still not sure if I am interpreting the words correctly, and may have absolutely no real understanding of what Francis is really trying to say, I appreciate the fact that the lyrics inspired me to think introspectively and come to my own conclusions as to the meaning of the album.

The whole experience got me thinking that maybe this is how people long ago felt about the many world-renowned Shakespearian classics. Perhaps part of the brilliance of “A Healthy Distrust” is the album’s ability to allow the listeners to formulate their own understandings and interpretations of the true meaning behind the author’s words. Without the footnotes, I may never have understood the serious social and political themes that were imbedded in Othello, but this could have been better for my personal interpretation of the play and what it means to me. Who’s to say that what your English professor says about Shakespeare’s theme in Othello is really true? If such classics were not assigned accepted interpretations, couldn’t it increase their longevity and ability to be understood within different time periods and from different points of view? In addition, couldn’t it actually help the readers by increasing their abilities to come to their own conclusions without having to be told everything by so called experts? Maybe Francis’ purpose in making his album so complex was to allow his listeners to individually take what they could from his album without trying to push a predetermined frame of thought upon those listeners.

If this was indeed one of Francis’ purposes in creating such an album, he did so while blending it perfectly within what I would consider quality hip-hop expression. In order for me to personally consider a hip-hop album quality, the album must allow me to remember at least one thing I love about hip-hop. I’ve always felt that hip-hop is by creation not only a reflection of urban life, which represents an ever-increasing population of the world, but also a means of communicating its knowledge, views, philosophies and struggles to the masses. Sage Francis’ “A Healthy Distrust” does just that, using self-examination, metaphoric storytelling, sarcasm and anti-establishment-styled witty anger that often comes across as comical to comment on such topics as guns, war, politics, religion, relationships and pop culture.

Gun Culture
One thing that was obvious to me after the first time listening to this album was that Sage is animatedly opposed to gun culture, so much that he dedicated both an entire song and page of his insert to it, which humorously displayed a circus monkey juggling handguns.

Gunz yo! I keep one in my pillowcase.
It keeps me safe when I sleep, still I keep awake.
What if my dream girl pays a midnight visit?
I see the world through the scope, but I gain no insight with it.

I’ve got another gun, I keep it in my briefcase.
It keeps me safe at my work place.
Cubicle gangster who’s in need of his personal space.
Angster of love who’s unable to look girls in their face.

I’ve got a water gun. I keep it in my mouth.
It keeps me safe from the things I like to speak about.
But words are leaking out.
And all the smiles I crack Are like a dam on the verge of collapse.

When the music’s dead I’ll have Ted Nugent’s head hanging on my wall.
Kill one of ours … and we’ll kill one of yours with some “friendly fire.”
That’s a funny term … like “civil war.”

Francis’ attack on gun culture takes his patented sarcastic tone, giving different examples of gun owners, including “cubicle gangsters in need of their personal space” and “angsters of love who’re unable to look girls in their face,” and proposing one day to have “Ted Nugent’s head hanging on my wall.” But he also points out irony and a false sense of security in gun culture, as in “it keeps me safe when I sleep still I keep awake,” “it keeps me safe at my work place” and “I see the world through the scope, but I gain no insight with it.”

Anti-War
The second theme I felt that Sage was trying to push was his opposition to war and military recruitment. Francis also dedicates an entire song to his anti-war beliefs, “Slow Down Gandhi,” which could be the album’s tightest track.

From here I can see the marines in hummers on a conquest.
Underdogs with wonder bras in a push up contest.
All for the sake of military recruitment.
It feels like Kent State the way they targeted the students.

Who would they die for?
Is it the same machine that leaves the quality of your life poor?
An abominable colony of cyborgs
Clogging up the property that I bought with eyesores.

Who’s the one to blame for the strain of the vocal cords?
Who can pen hateful threats but can’t hold a sword?
It’s the same who complain about the global war
But can’t overthrow the local joker that they voted for.

So look for the truth. Quit seeking forgiveness.
You need to cut the noose, but you don’t believe in scissors.
You support the troops by wearing yellow ribbons?
Just bring home our motherfucking brothers and sisters.

Francis attacks our government’s war actions several times, accusing them of making kids die for “the same machine that leaves the quality of life poor,” and thus creating “an abominable colony of cyborgs.” He also calls out society and its war-supporting actions, including “wearing yellow ribbons,” calling out those who “complain about the global war but can’t overthrow the local joker that they voted for.”

Politics / Abuse of Authority
Much of Sage’s attack on gun culture and war implicated our society’s dependence on political control and its abuse of authority, but he simultaneously attacks our political system, our judicial system and law enforcement in other tracks.

One love, one life, one too many victims.
Republicrat-Democran, one party system.
Media goes in a frenzy.
They’re stripped of their credentials.
Presidential candidates can’t debate over an instrumental.
Let ‘em freestyle. Winner takes all.

We make believe we’re getting by while treating ourselves wrong.
Throw me a reindeer-john-letter-party and I’ll be there with bells on.
Hell spawned some iffy calls in City Hall.
They still got the gall to blame the vitriol on Biggie Smalls!

Now it’s whistle blower verses the pistol holder. Case dismissed.
They’ll walk you up and throw away the key witness.
Justice is on the whim of a judge. Check his chest density.
It leaves much room for error, and the rest is left to destiny.

They call the shots but they’re not in the line of fire.
I’d call the cops but they breaking the line of duty.
Call a stop to the abuse of authority.

Francis further shows his contempt for several branches of authority in these examples, claiming that “justice is on the whim of a judge,” and that judge is likely to “throw away the key witness.” He also demonstrates the evil existent in politics, saying that “Hell spawned some iffy calls in City Hall,” and that our “Republicrat-Democran” political base is really a abusive “one party system.”

Religion
Sage has always seemed to have a big problem with religion, and continues on his newest album by taking several shots at God. One of the most creative songs on the album is “Sun vs. Moon,” which depicts the Sun verses the Moon in somewhat of an out-of-this-world DJ contest, ending in corrupt judging and the Sun’s undeserved victory.

The Devil only exists because of your belief in him.
Same goes for that other guy.
I believe the Sun is simply reflecting its shine from the Moon.
Stealing its spotlight … they’ll have a cockfight at noon.

Holy sons got Mommy issues on deck at the podium.
Holding tongues with the rituals more complex than Napoleon.
I told him … it isn’t his job to live in a fog.
I don’t have a God complex … you have a simple God!

Jah didn’t’ kill Johnny. He had a date with death.
It was a slow train coming. And we’ve all got a train to catch. But
Lord, take your filthy claws off the rest of my friends.

As seen in earlier examples, Sage spends a lot of his time on the album attacking an institution by criticizing the people who believe in it. He claims that “the Devil only exists because of your belief in him … same goes for that other guy,” and clarifies that “I don’t have a God complex … you have a simple God!”

Pop Culture
Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this album is its criticism on pop culture, which Sage seems to refer to in several different songs, giving it titles such as “The Buzz Kill” or “Lie Detector Test.”

From strip malls to strip clubs they slip drugs
Into the drink that kids love … tell us to drink up and get buzzed!
This is the Buzz Kill …

Don’t these streets back you into bad corners?
Curbs crumble once you sit your ass on them.
Parking meters overdue. Violation goes unnoticed.
Out of all of those who tried to travel off road … you’ve come the closest.

Got a paper full of yellow journalism.
A restaurant waiter selling me words of wisdom.
The small town crier is chilling with the village idiots.
The big city slickers are still busy building pyramids.
Got a diploma but no wall to hang it.
Tags on the bathroom stall to make me famous.
A job description that don’t fit the bill.
A fatal femme fatale dressed to kill.
Get me out of this … Lie Detector Test.

Don’t live for the moment. Live for the constant.
Die for what’s right or get killed by your conscience.

Francis views this materialistic pop culture as existing “from strip malls to strip clubs,” including “big city slickers building pyramids” and “fatal femme fatales dressed to kill.” Perhaps popular culture ties us up by “telling us to drink up and get buzzed” and to “live for the moment.”

Radio / Music
I don’t understand how any true hip-hop fan could possibly listen to the radio, and it looks like Sage may feel the same. He dedicates a portion of his album to dissing the radio and the low quality music played on “Clear Channel playlists.”

Radio … suckers never play this.
Scared shitless of dismissing Clear Channel playlists.
Poorly developed yet highly advanced.
Black music intertwined with the white man’s line dance.

Her favorite radio station is a permanent paid vacation.
Burning her face in the sun.
She loves repetitive songs that keep playing.
You know, the repetitive songs that keep playing.

Piano man got a checkered dance floor to grace and a painful look on his face.
Cuz the crowd is packed and the louder they clap
The less he is able to make the connection between what he sees
When he hears certain notes and the hurt that is shown in his facial expression.
I don’t need your “go ahead” to go ahead.

When I first got into magic it was an underground phenomenon.
Now everybody’s like “pick a card … any card.”

Poor musicians come a dime a dozen.
And you’re the egg man, a flash in the pan, and your yolk is running.
Who broke that hard outer covering?

Francis calls out those “radio suckers (who) never play this,” referring to their stations as “permanent paid vacations” that “burn your face in the sun.” He also clowns on the repetitive songs that these radio stations play, which anyone who’s ever turned to their local “hip-hop station” can relate to. One song, “Escape Artist,” seems to be a metaphoric contemplation of hip-hop, comparing it to magic. One of my favorite lyrics in this album is Sage’s initial reaction to this magic scene … “When I first got into magic it was an underground phenomenon. Now everybody’s like “pick a card … any card.” I can understand his feeling here, as the globalization of hip-hop has allowed for the increasing production of weak ass shit.

The Business of Medicine
Along with taking shots at the government and religion, Sage takes a couple cracks at a similar societal obsession, the business of medicine. Although this has become a common topic among artists of every genre, actors and comedians, Francis demonstrates great introspective thought as to the causes of our society’s obsession with medication.

There’s plenty to feed the empty mouths of the nest-bound.
They’re kept down and apes won’t be banging on their chests proud.
When pace makers are fragile … they hate the taste of capsules.
They feed their face with Paxil. Females hate their dads still.

Making you think you’re ugly is a million dollar industry.
If they could sell sanity in a bottle they’d be charging for compressed air.
They’re marketing health care.
They demonized welfare.
Middle class eliminated.
The rich get richer till the poor get educated.

Sage lashes out at our country’s “marketing health care,” asserting that “making you think you’re ugly is a million dollar industry.” He sarcastically predicts that “if they could sell sanity in a bottle they’d be charging for compressed air,” but that no matter how much they “feed their face with Paxil … females hate their dads still.”

Relationships
When I picked up this album, I wasn’t surprised to hear Sage commenting on politics, religion, war or gun control, but I didn’t really expect him to talk so much about love and relationships. I found it an interesting and refreshing change, proving that Francis is more multi-dimensional, being able to angerly criticize society while simultaneously analyzing his past and sadly criticizing himself and his own actions.

Baby, you don’t know where my mind has been.
Fell off the bike more than twice but its time to ride again.
This time I’ll learn from my past falls.
Old wounds might reopen soon … burn ‘em in alcohol.

Ever feel the need to keep it so real you feed
Yourself into her hunger and don’t care if she bleeds?
Asking all these questions isn’t highly recommended.
They’ll eventually get answered if you put time into the friendship.

Slave labor. You made me work for what I couldn’t have.
Diamonds cut but coal burns … nothing lasts … forever.
I wonder why I bothered saving any of your letters.
They’re just aged paper.

Maze broken. She’s running. Feet swollen.
He’s coming. Cheese stolen. Before he even knows it, she’s gone.
The day’s frost. That’s scraped off. The weight loss.
The new sign that says “Keep Off” as he speeds into the storm.

Sage’s couple songs about love were exceptional, and demonstrated among his greatest examples of inner-thought and self-examination. Francis seems determined in this aspect to “learn from my past falls,” learning that “diamonds cut but coal burns … nothing lasts … forever.” One song, “Bridle,” seems to be a metaphoric story about love involving a maze and some stolen cheese in which he touches on several breaking-up type feelings, including “swallow these lumps,” “the weight loss” and “lightning strikes.”

Many hip-hop heads have a tendency to diss artists like Sage Francis, and after listening to his latest album, I still cannot figure out why. Maybe it’s because they can’t understand him and refuse to put any effort into trying. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t follow the typical hip-hop style of communicating directly to the audience, opting instead to speak in metaphor and deep thought. Or maybe it’s because his music and lyrics are different from the normal popular party hip-hop you hear on your local radio.

Whatever the reason, those “radio suckers” need to look up and listen every once in a while, maybe try to understand or learn from what such artists are saying … even without the availability of footnotes. Whether or not what I took from “A Healthy Distrust” is the same as what Sage intended or not, I feel that it inspired me to think, and that is what makes it quality hip-hop. Sage represents the true definition of a lyricist and a hip-hop philosopher, creating dope yet introspective lyrics that teach the listener to keep his eyes open for the injustices of society while proudly bumping his speakers down the road.