Stay Human
Michael Franti & Spearhead
2001
Stay Human is loosely structured to resemble a broadcast from a progressive listener-supported radio station. Brother Soulshine (Franti) and the Nubian Poetess take up the cause of the impending execution of Sister Fatima, a fictional faith healer who was convicted for the murder of a prominent businessman and his wife. As many community activists take up the charge of Sister Fatima’s innocence, the issue becomes the pivot around which an upcoming gubernatorial race takes place.
Woody Harrelson does a GWB impersonation as the heartless, politically opportunist, and frighteningly dimwitted governor. Franti rails against the death penalty on the album. Influenced by the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder, the group runs the musical gamut, from ballads to hardcore hip-hop, as the set delves into the serious issues that surround the concept.
“I have been doing a lot of work against the death penalty. I wanted the album to be about that, but I didn’t want to write 13 songs about people in prison,” Franti says. “So I wrote the story to go around it.”
Stand-Out Tracks
Oh My God
Stay Human (All the Freaky People)
Rock the Nation
Every Single Soul
We Don’t Mind
