Stay Human

Making music with a message is pretty tricky. If the music’s too catchy, the message is often never heard. If the music sucks, no one listens anyway. Funk-rap veteran Michael Franti finds a way around this dilemma on his latest album with his neo-soul, hip-hop outfit, Spearhead. Though the 13 songs on Stay Human rock and sway with the kind of ease Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder oozed through the ’70s, Franti breaks up these tunes with a fictional community radio broadcast that keeps his social agenda on the listener’s radar. Amazingly Franti’s anti-death-penalty narrative doesn’t really disrupt the album’s flow; his radio chatter recalls a time too-far-gone when community radio was actually an integral part of the community, not a fringe operator. On standouts like “Sometimes” and “Soulshine,” Franti raps, sings, and does something in between the two in a deep, smooth baritone that’s filled with wisdom and humor. In turn, the band’s stunning and sophisticated grooves bring Franti’s words to life, ensuring that he’s not just preaching to the choir.