Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury CD

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy: Michael Franti (vocals); Rono Tse (percussion, sounds).

Often berated as the group that it is OK for non-rap fans to like, the Disposable Heroes' solitary album proper represents much more than that might imply. Shades of Michael Franti and Rono Tse's previous incarnation, as part of the Beatnigs, resurface in the collision of samples, noise and breakbeats. Tse's technique is exemplary. However, it is Franti's fiercely intelligent narratives that carry the day. Where bombast and finger-pointing had been the order of the day in hip-hop, Franti includes his own inadequacies (notably calling himself a 'jerk' in 'Music And Politics') in his diagnosis of the problem.

Characterized by challenging, overtly political lyricism and non-traditional production that incorporates live guitar lines, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy introduced an intelligent, socially conscious form of West Coast hip-hop. On their critically-acclaimed debut (also their one and only) album, HIPOCRISY IS THE GREATEST LUXURY, lyricist Michael Franti attacks the evils of environmental devastation ("Everyday Life Has Become a Health Risk"), racism ("Socio-Genetic Experiment"), homophobia ("The Language of Violence"), and mass media mind control ("Television, the Drug of the Nation").

Recorded at Razor's Edge, Komotion, and Pete Scaturro's Studio, San Francisco, California.

Full performer name: Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy.

Additional personnel: Charlie Hunter (vocals, guitar, bass); Simone White (drums).Rolling Stone (5/14/92, p.108) - 3.5 Stars - Good - "...The Heroes recall Public Enemy both in their aural assault and in the rhetorical dexterity of rapper Michael Franti...A blistering, state-of-the-art album about the state of the soul of contemporary American society..."
Q (1/93, p.71) - Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.
Q (May/92, p.74) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...accessible, articulate...[singer] Franti's soft-spoken condemnations are pitted against a series of deceptively seductive tunes...Hiphoprisy songs bubble with energy..." Option (July-Aug/92, p.98) - "...the hip-hop tag team of the decade...Franti's smooth poetry sounds more like that of fellow San Fransiscan Lawrence Ferlinghetti than the hip-hop it hangs with on the radio..."
Village Voice (3/2/93, p.5) - Ranked #19 in the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums Of 1992.