The political association

This album reminds me it's alright to be pissed off and say it and shrug it with a dance step at the same time. "We Don't Stop" is the best single I've heard yet this year, couched in an album of hip-hop dance that focuses on something true even if musically it's a bit repetitive. Michael Franti isn't afraid to have a sense of humor with his agenda, via the politically charged wit of Jurassic 5 or Living Colour (though invariably sounding much different). "Bush war one and Bush war two, they've got a war for me, they've got a war for you," Franti says in that single. Yet the political message falls a step short of firing people up by only stating the obvious instead of suggesting solutions (and having a couple of derivative parts). Follow it up with the title track "Everyone Deserves Music", which is more melodic and peaceful while still carrying a message of the hidden folks trying to get by. They deserve something good too. The album's positive without getting dragged down by the flippant nature of other such funk-fused artists. The guys seem to represent what they write about, advertising sweatshop-free gear on their Web site and playing benefit shows. If the entire album was like the first half of that single, Franti would be looking at many new shock and awed out fans.