Michael Franti’s stature as a singer/songwriter is as great as his position as a peaceful innovator and political activist. Franti, and his group Spearhead, have been jamming through the music scene since their debut album in 1994. After disposing of his previous band, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Franti formed the funky reggae Spearhead and created “Home,” an album still declared his best and most original to date. Released in the height of the grunge nation era, “Home” took a step off the ordinary rock path, and used enlightening, non-violent lyrics with jazzy soul-filled instrumentation to preach it’s message. Apparently, Franti was destined to change the world through his music and peaceful philosophy.
Always one to mingle with the crowd, and never one to wear shoes or a shirt at a gig, Franti and Spearhead blew up into a jam sensation. Shortly after their 1997 album “Chocolate Supa Highway,” dedicated fans traveled around the world to listen to this political prophet. In 1998, Franti created the annual Power To The Peaceful Festival, which features an array of friends and artists that strive to stop world violence and end war.
In 2001, Spearhead bridged their underground roots to a mainstream audience with “Stay Human.” Using hip-hop and jazz, Franti preaches against capital punishment, poverty and passivity. The song “Oh My God” speaks to the confused soul of a citizen entangled in the web of national corruption and conscientious confusion. Sung almost like a poem, Franti pronounces optimism in a world of negative feedback. The title track on this album, “Stay Human” became the Franti followers’ theme with lines such as, “All the freaky people make the beauty of the world.” “Stay Human” helped Spearhead climb to the pinnacle of popularity in a business where, many times, only sacrifice will create sales.
But Franti kept preaching. In 2003, “Everyone Deserves Music” skyrocketed Spearhead to powerful positions on the U.S. music spectrum. Less active and angry, but still passionate, this album took a more silent and peaceful stance on musical activism. Instead of lines heard in previous albums such as, “Makes me so mad I want to bomb an institution,” Franti preaches love and wisdom to overpower all emotions and wrongdoings. The incredibly well-composed “Bomb the World” was a national anthem on war protests and non-violent activism; fans of Franti’s music, and his philosophy, began to blissfully boast the chorus, “power to the peaceful, love to the peaceful.”
Following his 2001 and 2003 releases, Franti became a touring icon. His shows were elaborately vibrational with “lovely freaks and weirdos.” To commemorate these unique Franti experiences, Spearhead released several live performances on CD and DVD, followed by
an all-acoustic album featuring remixes of
previously-written favorites.
In July of this year, Franti released “Yell Fire!” The music on this brutally honest album is used in Franti’s own documentary, filmed during his time in the Middle East, “I Know I’m Not Alone.” The title of this album alone speaks a message of the time: With violence and unrest at every door, you must yell for help, or to even be recognized. The album’s title track “Yell Fire” hits hard with a reggae rhythm one can’t refuse to sway with and lyrics that one can’t dissent against. It is obvious that this album infuses more reggae and rock than any previous Franti recording to date, yet the music does not overshadow the message. The album speaks directly to different personalities. “Light Up Ya Lighter” is sung for the confused soldier, caught between what is right and what is patriotic, while “Time to Go Home” speaks to the individual remembering a tranquil and peaceful past.
While releasing one of his greatest productions to date, Franti has returned to venues nationwide to teach and explain his savoir-faire in the Middle East and to celebrate the music of his new album. A Franti performance is in a sense life-changing: philosophically, spiritually, politically. Never ceasing to tell the truth, Franti can bring tears to your eyes or joy to your heart. Either way, no one should miss the barefoot bodhisattva playing with his terrifically talented jam band, Spearhead, at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene on Oct. 12.