Fusing themes of love, community, and social consciousness with a distinctive cocktail of R&B, hip-hop, soul, folk, rock, and reggae, Michael Franti first distinguished himself in the late '80s with a pair of ambitious projects (the Beatnigs and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) before forming his longtime backing band Spearhead in the early '90s. Moving beyond the angry, politically charged punk and hip-hop of his early days, Franti used Spearhead as a vehicle for channeling his innate seriousness, social unease, and desire for change into a compassionate and positive musical force. Using his own raw power -- charisma, sex appeal, sense of social injustice -- he has carried out in his music a community-generated passion in much the same way as Gil Scott-Heron or Marvin Gaye.