The idea that Sage Francis purposely stopped making music for hardcore hip-hop fans never occurred to me. Link
GC: Many of your fans aren’t hip-hop fans per se, thanks in part to you being featured on Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8; they just like what you do. Are you happy with that or would you prefer having actual hip-hop fans following what you do?
SF: Most of my fans used to be hardcore hip-hop fans. I stopped pandering to that crowd and decided to do stuff that was more challenging to that type of audience. What happened was I lost a segment of the hardcore hip-hop crowd and allowed other people to have access to my art and experience. I definitely like having hip-hop fans at my shows, but if I only had hip-hop fans enjoying my material I’d feel really insecure about my art. I’d wonder why people outside of my chosen genre couldn’t enjoy or identify with the humanity in what I do. Then I’d probably assume that the only reason that hip-hop kids enjoy my material (and no one else) is because I pander to them. I’ve been lucky though. I do what I want to do, and I have all walks of life coming to my shows expressing their appreciation for what I do. Black, white, Asian, Native American, Mexican, young, old, Christian, Muslim, atheist, men and women. I hold their hand and I say yes. I just say yes. They look me in the eye and they say yes as well. It’s a yes-fest.
