Our guest on this episode of Songcraft is musician, rapper, poet, activist, and singer-songwriter Michael Franti, who is best known for his work with his group Spearhead. He joins us to discuss the evolution of his music, the creation of hits such as “Say Hey (I Love You)” and “The Sound of Sunshine,” and his most recent album, Work Hard & Be Nice.
SUMMARY:
Our guest on this episode of Songcraft is musician, rapper, poet, activist, and singer-songwriter Michael Franti, who is best known for his work with his group Spearhead. He joins us to discuss the evolution of his music, the creation of hits such as “Say Hey (I Love You)” and “The Sound of Sunshine,” and his most recent album, Work Hard & Be Nice.
PART ONE:
Scott and Paul get into some serious grammar nerd stuff about implied punctuation in lyrics, how incorrect sentence construction often works better in lyrics, and what the heck Bryan Adams really had in mind when he wrote "Heaven."
PART TWO:
We chat about our friends at Pearl Snap Studios, address Scott's "Zoom yelling," and tee up for the main event...
PART THREE:
Scott's in-depth interview with Michael Franti
ABOUT MICHAEL FRANTI
Socially conscious and genre-bending artist, musician, rapper, poet, activist and singer-songwriter Michael Franti launched his career with early groups such as Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, whose debut release was listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. He went on to form Spearhead, which evolved from hip-hop to incorporate influences including jazz, soul, funk, rock, reggae, and folk. The 2008 Michael Franti & Spearhead album All Rebel Rockers was his first to hit the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts on the strength of the single “Say Hey (I Love You),” which was also a Top 20 hit on the pop chart. He went on to release a string of albums that hit the Rock Albums Top 5, including The Sound of Sunshine, All People, and SoulRocker. His most recent album is called Work Hard & Be Nice, which was released during the pandemic in the summer of 2020. In addition to his work as an artist and activist, Michael is the owner of a yoga resort hotel in Bali called Soulshine, from which he joined us for this interview.