Hip-hop duo Epic Beard Men tour Seoul, Busan
B. Dolan (left) and Sage Francis of Epic Beard Men / Courtesy of Epic Beard Men
By Jon Dunbar
Rapper Sage Francis returns to Korea for concerts this Friday and Saturday. He last toured Korea in December 2014, performing in Daegu and Busan, but this time he's in Seoul and Busan, and he's bringing his co-collaborator B. Dolan, the other half of the
.
“This time I get to play with B. Dolan rather than doing it totally solo, and that's exciting for me,” Francis told The Korea Times. “He is an absolute beast and I'm lucky to have him as a friend and rap partner. The tour we're on right now is giving us all the practice we need to smash whatever stage you guys put us on.”
Francis, active in Providence, Rhode Island, is a poet, rapper and spoken word artist.
Born Paul William Francis, he got his moniker when reading lyrics to his first girlfriend, and she told him, “Damn, kid, you're a sage.”
“I had no idea what it meant,” he recalled, “but I did know that the letters worked great as a graffiti tag. Fortunately I'm terrible at graffiti, but that's why I initially adopted it as my rap name.”
He founded
in 1996 and serves as its CEO. Originally the label was to release his own music, but it has also promoted other acts including Dolan, Buck 65 and Cecil Otter.
“My goal has always been to offer something as unique as it is enjoyable,” he said. “We can be strange and famous at the same time if all goes well. The odds are against us, but we've got some incredibly talented and sharp minds in our small circle. So far so good.”
Francis, known for his introspective and conscious lyrics, says the label of underground music is becoming outdated.
“It's all merging into the same thing,” he explained. “I mean, underground used to be the music that was difficult to find. Nowadays we all share the same platforms for the most part. It's very easy to get all of your music on all the streaming services, iTunes, SoundCloud and so on. That means there's a lot of music to sift through.”
Francis cooperated with Dolan for years before coming together as Epic Beard Men.
“We are not men with epic beards; we are epic men who happen to have beards,” he said. “This seems to be confusing everyone, so it's time I set the record straight. We hate beards and we would be happy if they all disappeared from everyone's face except for ours.”
On Friday
they perform at CJ Azit Gwangheungchang in western Seoul
, with Korean hip-hop duo Garion opening. On Saturday
they're at the Busan club Revel
, with openers MA$$TIGE & Homebo2z.