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Episode 7: 'This Was Supposed to Be Fun' w/ Sage Francis & B Dolan aka Epic Beard Men

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Episode notes

Guests

B. Dolan

Words, Music, Creative Dissent. 1/2 the @EpicBeardMen. Creator of #MakeRacistsAfraidAgain & #FilmThePolice ✉️[email protected]

B. Dolan’s first performances took place at New York City’s Nuyorican Poets Cafe, where he gained respect as part of HBO’s Def Poetry in 2002 and won numerous slam titles.[2] He has since distanced himself from and criticized slam poetry. In 2011, he told the Boston Phoenix:

Doing spoken word was the first time I ever tried to present my writing on a stage, and that’s what it was good for. It taught me some basic stage tricks that I still use — like how to change my voice and talk to a crowd. But once you’ve picked up those chops, you need to get the hell out before you become some asshole who wins the poetry slam for the 10th year in a row.[2]

After performing at a Def Jam industry party at the Rush Arts Gallery, B. Dolan realized he wouldn’t be able to work within the major label structure. Within months, he dropped out of college, bought a drum machine, and began recording the first album The Failure.[2] During this time, he slept on “park benches and subway trains” while working as a doorman at a building in close proximity to the Twin Towers. It was at this time that the September 11 attacks happened, leaving B. Dolan in a “paranoid mental state” which caused him to move back to Rhode Island.[1]

Once back in Rhode Island, B. Dolan tapped into the local arts community, volunteered for at-risk youth programs, created the consumer activist website Knowmore.org, teamed up with Sage Francis, signed to Strange Famous Records, and began to tour internationally since 2005.

B. Dolan has also remained prolific as a rapper, releasing albums on Strange Famous Records since 2008, and most notably creating the “Bombzo Way” and “Evel Knievel” characters, which make surprise guest appearances at his concerts.[1][2] In 2010, he released his second album Fallen House, Sunken City, the entirety of which is produced by Alias of Anticon.[3]

In 2011, B. Dolan created the package show The Church of Love & Ruin, which combined activism and art by bringing openly LGBT and Queer performers into the arena of hip hop, in an attempt to address homophobia in rap.[2][4]

On July 10, 2015, B. Dolan released his third studio album, entitled Kill the Wolf[5], on Speech Development and Strange Famous Records.[6] This was followed with a world tour,[7] visiting the US, UK and Europe.[8]


Sage Francis

Group: @EpicBeardMen. Label: @SFRupdates. Merch: https://t.co/rsUz3Y6qS3. TOUR DATES: https://t.co/Ig2xMgR4KJ

In 1996, he recorded his first official demo tape, and by 1998 he had a radio show on WRIU called True School Session.

Francis won the Superbowl MC Battle in Boston in 1999, beating Esoteric.[8][9] Francis won the Scribble Jam emcee battle in 2000, beating Blueprint.[4][7][10][11]

In 2001, the song “Makeshift Patriot,” recorded on October 11, 2001, became an Internet hit for its critique of American media during, and immediately following a month after the September 11 attacks.[12] Francis considers Makeshift Patriot to be the song that really made things come together for him. It was on the 2002 mix tape, The Known Unsoldier – Sick Of Waging War… and was widely circulated for free.[13]

He released the critically acclaimed first solo album Personal Journals in 2002. The record, Hope, his only album with Joe Beats released under the name Non-Prophets, was named after the state of Rhode Island’s motto or slogan of hope, so was meant to be very Rhode Island-centric.[13]

Francis broke music genre barriers by getting signed to Epitaph Records, making himself the first hip hop artist to sign with the punk rock label. He subsequently released three albums with Epitaph Records; A Healthy Distrust, Human the Death Dance and Life.[14][15]

Francis has described A Healthy Distrust as being a political record, which reflected his mistrust of government and big business with a focus on socio-political matters.[13]

In May 2007, a video of “Got Up This Morning” off of Human the Death Dance was released. It featured vocals by Jolie Holland and beats produced by Buck 65. Cameos in the video were B. Dolan, Brother Ali, Buck 65, Divinci from Solillaquists of Sound, Holland, Slug, and Tom Inhaler from Francis’ band and Strange Famous Records[16]

Life was a career shift into a different style direction, focusing on spoken word and indie rock.[17] The record featured contributions and collaborations with Califone, Chris Walla, Jason Lytle, and Mark Linkous.[4]

Francis made a guest appearance on Bad Religion’s The Empire Strikes First on the track “Let Them Eat War”.

In 2014, Francis released Copper Gone after a four year break from touring.[18][19] The album was named after the phenomenon Francis saw in his neighborhood where abandoned buildings would have their copper pipes stripped to be sold, and then tagged as “Copper Gone” to let others know that there was no copper left to steal.[13]

Francis says that he has been releasing mixed tapes consistently since 1999, and will continue to release the Sick of mixed tapes series on an ongoing basis.[13]

Francis had toured extensively.[20] He has performed shows with Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and Eyedea & Abilities.


The main event is a chat with U.S Hip Hop legends Sage Francis and B Dolan aka Epic Beard Men who are touring the UK this month to promote their new album ‘This Was Supposed to Be Fun’. We also spea to some ‘revellers’ live from Doune the Rabbit Hole festival and hear our listeners feedback on what they make of the new prime minister in a ‘Bad Excuses from Mad Politicians’ specialwhich means I have to tick the ‘explicit language’ box plus other news and stuff and things and that. Audio Mastered by Morphamish Music included is: ‘Charlie Brooker Sketch’ by Jackal Trades (Morphamish Remix) ‘It’s All Gone to Fuck’ by Stanley Odd