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Paul "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.

Biography

Francis is an acclaimed forefather of indie-rap and the CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records. This label first began as a way for Francis to bootleg his unreleased songs in the late 90's and has since evolved into an official enterprise with an expanding roster of like-minded artists. Francis won the Scribble Jam Emcee battle in 2000 and released several CDs available only on his tours, before releasing Personal Journals on Anticon.. He joined up with Joe Beats in the duo Non-Prophets, releasing the albums Hope and Hopestrumentals in 2003 and 2004 respectively. He subsequently signed to Epitaph Records, the first hip-hop artist signed to the label, releasing the albums A Healthy Distrust (2005) and Human the Death Dance (2007).

Francis is also part of the contemporary spoken word movement, performing often at poetry events. Francis' relationship with the Providence Poetry Slam community (he was on their 1998, 1999 and 2002 national poetry slam teams) led to it being called "The House that Sage Francis Built." From 2000 - 2002, he also DJ-ed for the NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam, a weekly slam series held at the legendary punk rock venue CBGB. In May 2008, Francis represented "stage poetry" in a "Page Meets Stage" event at the Bowery Poetry Club, with Jeffrey McDaniel representing the "page poet."

Discography

• The Known UnSoldier "Sick of Waging War (Strange Famous Records, 2001)
• Personal Journals (Anticon, 2002)
• A Healthy Distrust (Epitaph, 2005)
• Human the Death Dance (Epitaph, 2007)
• Li(f)e (Anti-, 2010)

References

1. ^ Braidwood, Stefan (2005) "Sage Francis A Healthy Distrust", PopMatters, February 17, 2005, retrieved 2010-11-14
2. Pemberton, Rollie (2003) "Non-Prophets Hope", Pitchfork Media, October 13, 2003, retrieved 2010-11-14
3. Massimo, Rick (2007) "R.I. Rapper Hits the Road", Providence Journal, May 13, 2007
4. http://www.gotpoetry.com/Sections/op=viewarticle/artid=16.html Providence Poetry Slam info on GotPoetry.com
5. Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. New York City: Soft Skull Press. Page 100. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.
6. Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. New York City: Soft Skull Press. Page 198. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.
7. Taylor Mali website: Page Meets Stage page
8. http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/blogs/sage-francis-blog/the-new-sage-francis-album-and-north-american-tour/

External links and further reading

• Official Sage Francis website
• Strange Famous Records
• Strange Famous Forum
• KnowMore: The People's Corporation Watch Project
• Interview for Slap Magazine (Dead Link)
• Interview for Scene Missing Magazine
• Sage Francis Interview with Chuck D.
• Interview with Sage Francis 2010
• Interview: Sage Francis | The Find Magazine (2010)

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• 1976 births
• American vegetarians
• Epitaph Records artists
• Living people
• People from Providence, Rhode Island
• Rappers from Rhode Island
• Slam poets
• Spoken word poets
• Underground rappers