Describing himself as a soulrocker, Michael Franti's funky fusion of rock,
reggae, soul and hip-hop has always been filled with socially conscious passion
and has taken him from singing on the streets of Baghdad to playing at Folsom
Prison and performing for the Dalai Lama, since he first emerged in the 1990s.
Born in Oakland, California to an African-American father and an Irish-American
mother, Franti was put up for adoption at nine months old because his mother
believed that her parents wouldn't accept him, and he instead was raised by a
Finnish couple. The experience gave ...