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SAGE FRANCIS
EMBATTLED RAPS
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Sage Francis has become an underground hip-hop icon on the strength of his biting political lyrics and an energetic stage show. Despite a message that makes Howard Dean sound moderate, the Providence-bred rapper’s humor and integrity have rendered him an embraceable character. But a week ago Tuesday at the Middle East, at a release party for his critically acclaimed Epitaph debut, he crossed the line and ended up taking himself — and his message — a bit too seriously. Backed by a dynamic live band, openers Sol-iLLaquists of Sound, he sounded great, but the four back-up rappers he brought along added little but annoying responses to his call-outs. Worse still, Sage came off as not just angry but arrogant in front of the almost sold-out downstairs room. "If you have found a live hip-hop show better than this one, with this quality, be quiet," was one of his odder pronouncements. The confused crowd wasn’t sure whether that was a cue to make some noise or not. He spent much of the night on his usual soapbox, but his signature wit was missing. Perhaps in these polarizing times, Francis has found little to laugh about, but he also seems to have forgotten that people pay to be entertained. At first, the audience was subdued — understandable, given that the material he was performing was mostly new. When Francis, in what could have been a lighthearted moment, referred to Vanilla Ice with the line "Stop, collaborate, and listen," the crowd responded with a rare roar, whereupon a frustrated Sage scolded them with the salvo "Oh you know that shit!" The more familiar material — 2004’s "Damage" and "Spaceman" — did bring the house down. But the excitement didn’t last long, and the crowd filtered out toward the end of a nearly two-hour set. Francis didn’t do himself any favors by taking digs at the New England Patriots and claiming to be an Eagles fan. "I could have had cheap applause all night by saying ‘How about them Pats’ and ‘Yeah Gillette the razor, the razor,’ " he opined, "but there’s value in doing things the hard way." If taking the hard road is his goal, then the Middle East show was an unqualified success.
BY STEVE PEREZ
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