Details
Track Listing
1. Africa on Line
2. Chocolate Supa Highway
3. Keep Me Lifted
4. Food For Tha Masses
5. U Can't Sing R Song
6. Tha Payroll (Stay Strong)
7. Madness in Tha Hood (Free Ride)
8. Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Road Block)
9. Why Oh Why
10. Comin' to Gitcha
11. Life Sentence
12. Ganja Babe
13. Wayfarin' Stranger
14. Gas Gauge (The World's in Your Hands)
15. Water Pistol Man - (Chocolate Mix)
Album Notes
Spearhead: Michael Franti (vocals, guitar); Ras I Zulu (vocals); David James (guitar); Carl Young (keyboards, bass); Trinna Simmons (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Stephen Marley, Joan Osborne (vocals); Mike Tyler, Jack Petruzzelli, Erik Della Penna (guitar); Ted Greenberg (sitar); Lili Haydn (violin); Jay Davidson (saxophone); Prince Charles Alexander (keyboards); Andy Kravitz (percussion); Ismail Azim, Ishmael, Marie Daulne (background vocals).
Recorded at Studio 4, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Blak Militia and Hyde Street Studio, San Francisco, California.
Spearhead has a lot to live up to with its second album. The band's debut, HOME, was a highly original mix of hip-hop, funk and R&B that established singer/songwriter Michael Franti and company as a force to be reckoned with. Three years and a few lineup changes later, CHOCOLATE SUPA HIGHWAY shifts the perspective a little, leaning more toward hip-hop and introducing a strong reggae flavor (reggae messiah Bob Marley's son Stephen makes a guest vocal appearance on "Rebel Music").
Franti's expressive baritone and sharp, socio-political lyrics are still the focus, and songs like "Gas Gauge" show how Spearhead can illustrate the tribulations of modern urban life without resorting to mawkishness or cliche. "Tha Payroll (Stay Strong)" and the title song display the combination of powerful messages and irresistible grooves that is the foundation of this band.
Industry Reviews
...the brother shrouds his funk in so much murk and smoke there are times you could mistake it for MAXINQUAYE or THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON... - Rating: A-
Village Voice (04/15/1997)
The second album from the San Francisco-based project of former Disposable Hero Of Hiphoprisy Michael Franti is much harder and heavier than their debut. Muscular P-funk, slamming beats and an aggressive street atmosphere...
Q (04/01/1997)
...melange of contempo-smooth sounds and exultant vocals provide a glossy chaser for [Michael] Franti's sociopolitical musings...Franti's head is still in the same place, but it's the music that goes the longest way toward putting yours in a different one.
Option (05/01/1997)
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