The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy

Emerging in 1990 from the San Francisco avant-garde industrial jazz collective the Beatnigs, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy took shape as both a musical and ideological extension of that group. The duo, made up of former Beatnigs Michael Franti and Rono Tse, rapidly positioned itself at the forefront of rap artists championing multiculturalism and liberalism. Franti’s lyrics confronted core hip-hop attitudes such as homophobia, misogyny, and racism while exploring topics that stretched from the single “Television: The Drug of the Nation” to “Socio-Genetic Experience,” the latter reflecting his upbringing by white parents, all delivered with precision and insight.

Touring opportunities alongside Public Enemy, Arrested Development, Nirvana, and U2 underscored the impact of the group’s 1992 debut album, Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury, even as segments of the rap audience viewed the pair as an effort to ease white listeners’ concerns about the aggressive outlook common in gangsta rap. As a result, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy failed to reach the African-American listeners their work deliberately targeted. Following a 1993 collaboration with beat legend William S. Burroughs on the album Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales, the duo dissolved. Tse subsequently joined the Bay Area rap unit Mystik Journeymen, whereas Franti launched the more roots-oriented project Spearhead.