Whatcha' know about Michael Franti?

Michael Franti doesn’t wear shoes. In fact, he hasn’t since 2000, when he tried going without footwear for a couple days. He liked it – feeling it brought him to a more natural, primal state, so he stopped wearing them all together, except for the occasional flip flops so he can board a plane or enter a restaurant.

That may seem an odd detail to kick off a profile on one of the most eclectic and soulful artists of our time, but it’s really as good as any. Because to know Michael Franti is to understand there’s really no end and no beginning to his story, for it stands for something greater than just one man or even one lifetime.

But we have to start somewhere, so we can tell you this: he was born in Oakland 1966. His multi ethnic influences and eclectic musical tastes aren’t a surprise when we look at his ancestry. Michael’s mother was Irish, German, and French, and his father was African-American and Native American.

But his birth mother put him up for adoption because she was worried that her family wouldn’t accept him. He was adopted by Carole Wisti and Charles Franti, a Finnish-American couple in Oakland, who at the time had three biological children and one adopted African American son.

His adopted father was a professor at UC Davis and Franti attended Davis Senior High School and graduated from the University of San Francisco.  It was there he met a priest who taught him the art of life on paper, telling a story with a pen. The budding poet wrote line after line and then soon transitioned into hip hop verses. He bought a cheap bass at a pawnshop and soon started putting it all to music.

His original band, founded in 1986, was called the Beatnigs, a collage of punk music, spoken word poetry, and hip hop verses. His band was a frequent guest on college radio as Franti actually lived over the KUSF studio. 

In 1991, he moved on to his next musical group, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Their music exhibited punk, hip hop, and jazz music, and expressed a scathing social discourse in which you could almost hear Gil Scott’s ghost. They won critical acclaim for their political consciousness and went on to work with Beat novelist William Burroughs, providing the soundtrack to his reading.

Franti founded Spearhead in 1994 along with several studio musicians and friends. Their first album, Home in 1994, displayed an understated maturity with funk and soul sounds short on social commentary. 1997 saw the follow up release of Chocolate Supa Highway, a swing back toward hip hop and pronounced one of the best underground eclectic rap/funk projects of all time.

Franti and company subsequently split with Capitol Records over creative differences (they wanted him to work with Will Smith, and other pop rappers.) Instead of shopping for a new corporate record deal, Franti simply created his own label, Boo Boo Wax. Since Capitol still owned the rights to Spearhead, they became Michael Franti and Spearhead. They started hitting – not on the Billboard charts selling millions of copies, but permeating society from the top down. Their songs accompanied movies, like Good Burger, on Nickelodeon, and in collaborations with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His songs later appeared on two episodes of HBO’s The Wire, an FX channel series, a PlayStation game, a 2010 South Africa World Cup game, and Showtime’s Weeds, among others.

In 2000, Franti and Spearhead released Stay Human, crystallizing their vision of social justice through love and music. They were a band on a mission.

"Half the record is songs about what's happening in the world right now,” said Franti. “And the other half is about how we cope with it as people who are concerned about what's going on. This specter of war, intimidation, this nation vs. the rest of the world, it wears us out. Half the record is a healthy dose of venting anger about that, and the other half is about how do we hold on to our spirituality, our community and our connectedness to each other."

He’s gone on to explore afrofunk, bossa nova, reggae, dancehall, hip hop, acoustic folk, ska, Latin rock, and ballads.

Franti has travelled all over the globe, not just to play musical shows but to investigate the outer reaches of humanity, evolving his world view in places like Africa, Brazil, the West Bank, and Israel.

There’s no cause he’s unable to trumpet with the help of his trusty guitar and melodic, rooted voice. From democracy to Mumia Abu-Jamal, capital punishment to criticizing corporate profits, or just donating $25,000 of his own money to Haiti relief efforts. His song, Bomb The World, became an impromptu anthem after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

2008’s All Rebel Rockers was recorded in Jamaica under the iconic dub production team Sly and Robbie, resulting in a top 20 single on the U.S. charts. He was an outspoken (and loud singing) supporter for Barack Obama and jumped into pro-environmental causes, aiming to outlaw the use of plastic water bottles at his concerts and making sure his tour bus runs on biodiesel.

Always evolving and ready to tackle the world’s issues, Franti made a film, I Know I’m Not Alone, to advocate peace in the middle east, with no agenda, organization, nation, or religion in mind except love and peace.

"This film came out of my frustration with watching the nightly news and hearing generals, politicians, and pundits explaining the political and economic cost of the war in the Middle East, without ever mentioning the human cost. I wanted to hear about the war by the people affected by it most: doctors, nurses, poets, artists, soldiers, and my personal favorite, musicians."

He’s won awards – as a musician, a social activist and a filmmaker. He stays incredibly active even as he approaches 50 years old, a vegan yogi with the energy level of a 20 year old. And still shoeless.

It’s hard not to describe Franti’s legacy without cataloging his life’s work, but if there is one of his projects we’d highlight to reveal the soul of the man, it might as well be the Do It For Love Foundation. The organization, created by Franti and his girlfriend, among others, grants a wish to people with terminal illnesses to meet their favorite musical artists and attend a concert. Franti believes in the healing power of music, dance and laughter, and ultimately of love.

So we’ll excuse Franti if he doesn't wear shoes. You may still find it odd but the truth is that as an artist and a human being, he still leaves some noble footprints for us to follow.

.
-Norm Schriever
uTunes staff writer

What ever happened to that Wu-Tang-affiliated rapper who cut off his own penis?

We’ve seen some strange things in the music business – drug-fueled psychotic breakdowns, star-studded sex videos, and even rock legends embroiled in murder-for-hire scandals. But the bizarre recent case of the rapper who cut off his own penis definitely tops them all.

Andre Johnson, 41, engaged in a twisted self-castration in a Long Beach apartment in April, severing at least part of his own penis and testicles. Johnson, who goes by the rap name Christ Bearer, is part of the group Northstar, reportedly affiliated with the rap group the Wu-Tang Clan and hip hop legend RZA.

Police and paramedics responded to a 911 call from frantic neighbors at the apartment complex April 16 after Johnson cut off his own equipment and leapt off a second floor balcony.

Emergency responders found Johnson back on his feet and coherent but panicked, and then ran upstairs to collect his severed genitalia before rushing him to the Cedar Mount Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. TMZ and the E network report that surgeons reattached his penis, but Johnson denies it.

"Doctors didn't reattach it, but I definitely have some penis left,” Johnson says, now in good health again. He claims that he wasn’t in fact trying to commit suicide when he cut then jumped that fateful night, but was victim to the effects of smoking PCP, or Angel Dust.

"By no means was I trying to kill myself. I was under the influence of PCP,” says Johnson. “It's a drug that I had stopped doing for years, but I just got back from Ohio and got back into that lifestyle for a few days.”

 It definitely was not wise," he said

While we can’t disagree with him there, the rapper-turned-eunuch has a strangely positive outlook on the whole event. He says he was studying books about monks and vasectomies when took out a knife and did the deed, and then jumped.

"I was lucky I was only on the second floor. If I was any higher, it would have been a tragedy. The height didn't make any difference to me. I wasn't aware of the height," he said. "I was so happy to wake up in the hospital."

“Lucky “ and “it WOULD have been a tragedy” are not what you’d expect to hear from someone who just cut off his manhood and half the world knows about it, but somehow, Johnson spins this as a good thing in his life.

"I'm excited about getting back. I'm looking forward to what will occur," he said recently. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. My message is about peace and harmony and love, everybody getting along."

Really? I don’t claim to be Aesop, but it seems to me the moral of this story is not to stay off Angel Dust because you might cut your own dick off. But Christ Bearer hopes to get signed to an agent so he can (reportedly) begin his career as a stand-up comic, and eager to finish his album that he’s (reportedly) working on.

However RZA, who produced Northstar's 2004 debut album featured them on the Wu Tang Killa Bees albums, is claiming ignorance when it comes to any affiliation with Christ Bearer/Andre Johnson. Shortly after the incident, RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan officially distanced themselves from the rapper in this official statement:

"I feel terrible for what happened to Andre Johnson," Wu-Tang publicist Heathcliff Berry reported to US Magazine. "I hope he finds peace and gets the help that he needs," Berry adds, "I feel terribly for his family, but he is not in Wu-Tang Clan. He is in his own group. RZA worked with them -- as he does with countless other artists -- years ago, but [Johnson] was not a member of Wu-Tang Clan."

So much for the rap career. I know what you must be wondering this point…how is Johnson’s…ummm..Little Johnson?

I definitely still get extremely aroused if I see a beautiful woman," he said. "That being said, I definitely believe sex is for mortals, and I am god. So this is a blessing, not a curse."

So what does the future hold for the middle-aged unsigned rapper? It looks like the most promising option on the career horizon is a gig in the adult entertainment industry. Following the footsteps of John Wayne Bobbit, Johnson is interested in being in a porn movie, if nothing more than to prove his junk still works and grab a paycheck. And Vivid Entertainment is actually considering signing him. Vivid founder Steve Hirsch told TMZ that he is “definitely interested” but needs to check out Johnson’s injuries first, to confirm that he still can perform sexually before signing on the dotted line.

Like we said, this is definitely the most bizarre thing we’ve ever heard in the music business. But in all seriousness, we hope Johnson can rebuild his life, stay away from drugs, get the mental health treatment he needs, and become employed in music again so he can provide for his three daughters. We wish him the best. 

But for all you kids out there, treat this as a teachable moment; remember to stay in school and just say “no” to drugs, or else you’ll start hanging out with the wrong crowd and probably cut off your penis and jump out a second floor balcony and have to get a job in porn…or worse off, as a comedian.

What makes Austin the most musical city in the U.S.?

This week I’m in Austin, Texas for the first time, enjoying the sights and definitely the sounds of the funky musical city in the heart of Texas. I’m finding that this city is dripping with good music, on popular clubs on 6^th street to ancient watering holes to world-renowned festivals and street performers. In between my nightly ritual of beers and bands and buying way too many overpriced t-shirts because they have my favorite band on them, I decided to dig into the musical history of the city with the mantra, “Keep Austin Weird.”

The musical roots started in the late 1800’s when the Germans who settled in and around Austin started playing music in German Beer Gardens like Dessau Hall. As time went on and big band and blues turned into the birth of rock and roll, Dessau Hall was hole to visiting bands like Glenn Miller and his orchestra, country legend Hank Williams, and a cocky kid with a guitar who liked gyrating his hips to make the girls scream named Elvis Presley.

Meanwhile, on the African American side of Austin – the east in the still-racially segregated south – smaller musical venues like Ernie’s Chicken Shack, Charlie’s Playhouse, and Big Mary’s were part of the "chitlin circuit," which featured big bands, jazz and blues. Within a decade, Austin’s East Side and West side of town were hosting some of the biggest acts in the country like Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Tina Turner as they bused their way towards California.

Country music exploded in Austin in the late 1960’s, when a young Willie Nelson and others made Austin their adopted musical home. The Vulcan Gas Company – later evolving into the Armadillo World Headquarters – brought acts as diverse as reggae, ska, punk, indie, country, and rock in the 1970’s.

Punk and New Wave took Austin by storm in the late 1970’s and three local bands – the Skunks, the Violators, and the Big Boys – worked tirelessly to bring some anti-establishment coolness to the city. Their musical underground credibility brought in bands like the Police, Joe Jackson, Blondie and Talking Heads, the Clash, Elvis Costello and Blondie to come and play – and often jam with the local groups.

But there was no bigger local hero than Austenite Stevie Ray Vaughan, who exploded onto the blues scene and won a Grammy shortly after, taking home the trophy for best contemporary blues album in 1990. Shortly after, he lost his life in a tragic helicopter crash and the city memorialized by building him a statue on the shores of Austin's Lady Bird Lake.  

Whether it’s 35 10-foot guitars standing along the sides of the street courtesy of Gibson or PBS’s music show, Austin City Limits – the longest running music television program ever, Austin’s reputation as the Musical City is still growing. Now, Austenites and hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world enjoy South by Southwest, the annual music, media, and entertainment festival that goes by SXSW. But it’s not alone, as other popular musical festivals include Carnaval Brasileiro, Urban Music Festival, Texas Wine and Food Festival, Art City Austin, Old Pecan Street Festival, Republic of Texas Biker Rally, First Night Austin, and Austin Psych Fest.

Notable Austin homegrown musical acts or adopted sons include the Butthole Surfers, Gary Clark Jr., the Dixie Chicks, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Willie Nelson, Daniel Johnston (one of my favorites), Janis Joplin, and of course, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

So book a plane ticket to Texas, get ready a vacation filled with beer, sunshine, “Howdy, y’alls” and plenty of amazing music to sample.

25 Little Known Facts About Star Wars.

Star Wars, episode VII is only a little more than a year away, planned for release on December 18, 2015. As rumors and buzz about The Force Awakens swirl, let's look at some other little known facts abut the Star Wars movies, now 37 years old! 

1. “Attack of the Clones” was the only film in the Star Wars franchise not to be a top earner. It did bring in $302 million in domestic box office receipts, but was topped by Spider Man and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

2. In an early script version of Star Wars, the friendly robot R2-D2 spoke English and had a bad attitude.

3. In 1977, a disco music version of Star Wars was released and reached #1 on the charts for two weeks.

4. According to Samuel L. Jackson, the words, “bad motherfucker” were engraved on the lightsaber he used during filming.

5. Alex Guines, the actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, described the movie as “fairy tale rubbish.” Despite his low opinion of the film, his deal granted him 2% of the gross box office receipts for all movies he appeared in, bringing him over $95 million to date.

6. On the other end of the pay spectrum, Harrison Ford (Han Solo) got only $10,000 for his role in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

7. Speaking of Han, in the early story outline of Return of the Jedi, Han Solo actually died. But George Lucas was concerned with one of his main character’s death affecting toy sales so he had him rescued by the Ewoks instead.

8. Harrison Ford wasn’t even close to the first choice to play Han Solo; those were Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Christopher Walken.

9. Chewbaccas’s voice is a recorded mix of other animals; bears walruses, lions, badgers, and other dying animals.

10. And the noise of the lightsaber is a combination of the noise an old film projector makes and the hum of an old television.

11. On the tiny island of Niu in the South Pacific, you can use limited edition Star Wars collectible coins as legal tender.

12. Yoda was originally supposed to be a cute monkey wearing a mask and walking with the help of a cane.

13. The boy band 'N Sync made a cameo  appearance in Attack of the Clones because George Lucas' daughter was a huge fan, but they were edited out of the final cut.

14. Luke Skywalker was originally called Luke Starkiller all the way up to the begijning of shooting. When they wanted to change the name they realized that his full name hadn’t been uttered yet, so they didn’t have to reshoot. In story development, George Lucas considered the plotline that Luke removes Darth Vader’s helmet after their epic fight and puts it on. He would then say, “Now I am Vader,” and turned to the dark side.

15. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, was in a bad car  accident before filming started on the Empire Strikes Back, resulting in severe facial trauma. They wrote in a scene where Luke is mauled by a Wampa just to account for the scars on his face,

16. Tupac Shakur auditioned for the role of Mace Windu.

17. Actor David Prowse, who played Darth Vader, was outraged that his voice was dubbed over with Earl Jones’. His caused so many problems on set and pissed off George Lucas so much that he was banned from all ensuing Star Wars events.

18. Luke’s village of Tatooine was constructed in Tunisia and many of the buildings still stand.

19. The languages belonging to various critters and creatures in the Star Wars films are not all gibberish. In fact, the Jawa language is a sped up version of Zulu. The language Greedo speaks is a South American idiom called Quechua. Ewoks speak a mixture of Tibetan and Nepalese, and other alien races speak Kenyan.

20. Yoda had no identified species and depending on the movie you watch, he either has three or four toes.

21. Amazingly, a character from Spielberg’s ET: The Extra Terrestrial made an appearance in The Phantom Menace. 

22. Star Wars had almost the identical production crew as 2001: A Space Odyssey because Lucas was such a big fan of Stanley Kubrick’s film.

23. The very first day of shooting of Star Wars was full of problems. Shot in Tunisia, the Libyan government because concerned with a massive military vehicle they saw right over the border. They sent threats to the Tunisian government and started mobilizing their military before finding out it was just Jawa’s sandcrawler – a film prop. Lucas had his team move it away from the border and an international incident was averted.

24. Then, a major rainstorm hit the region for the first time in 50 years, turning the sand world into mud and forcing production to be halted for the day.

25. Yoda’s facial features are based on Albert Einstein’s features, including his lips inspired by Einstein’s mustache.