The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
A hugely innovative contemporary hip-hop crew formed by Rono Tse (percussion) and Michael Franti (b. 21 April 1966, Oakland, California, USA; vocals). Both residents of the Bay area of San Francisco, California, USA, the duo worked together for several years, most notably in avant garde industrial jazz band the Beatnigs. Following their inception as the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy they won significant allies amongst press and peers; support slots to Billy Bragg, U2, Public Enemy, Arrested Development and Nirvana demonstrating the range of their appeal. Their sound recalled some of the experimental edge of their former incarnation, while Franti's raps were arguably the most articulate and challenging of his generation. Typically he broke down his subject matter beyond the black/white rhetoric of much urban rap, and was willing to place his own inadequacies as a person at the forefront of his manifesto. When he called himself a "Jerk" in the intensely personal "Music And Politics", Franti took rap into a whole new dimension. Examples of his skilled deployment of words litter the band's debut album; "Imagination is sucked out of children by a cathode-ray nipple, Television is the only wet-nurse, that would create a cripple" (from "Television, The Drug Of The Nation", which also bemoans the amount of violence visited upon an average American child through his television set). "Language Of Violence" took to task rap's penchant for homophobia, forging a link between a wider circle of prejudice. Franti was more effective still when dealing with subjects on a personal level; "I was adopted by parents who loved me; they were the same colour as the kids who called me nigger on the way home from school" (from "Socio-Genetic Experiment"). One unfortunate consequence of Franti's eloquence was that the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy became the token rap band that it was "safe for white liberals to like". Otherwise there was precious little to fault in them. In 1993, they recorded an album with Naked Lunch author, William Burroughs. However, as the year closed they informed the press that the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy were no longer a going concern, with both parties going on to solo careers. The first result of which was Franti's 1994 album Home, as Spearhead, with producer Joe "The Butcher' Nicolo. There were also liaisons with the Disposables" live guitarist Charlie Hunter, and a projected dub album with Adrian Sherwood. Rono, meanwhile, has worked with Oakland rappers Mystic Journeymen.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Television The Drug Of The Nation
- Music and Politics
- Famous And Dandy (Like Amos 'N' Andy)
- Everyday Life Has Become a Health Risk
- Socio-Genetic Experiment
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