Capital Rap

Yet Franti has no problem with Paris' forays into the world of high finance.

"Paris has street credibility in his music, which is injected with radical lyrics. He also understands the music industry as a place to do his art, but he is not solely reliant upon music, which is a fickle way to earn a living. As a successful businessman, he is a good example to young people who think hip hop is a way to get rich."

A musical colleague of Paris since the early 1990s, Franti loves Sonic Jihad. "Paris has one of the best voices there ever was in rap -- a deep, authoritative baritone. People talk about the things he says, but he is also a great musician."

Plus, Paris has a devilish sense of humor.

Sonic Jihad opens with "Ave Bushani," a spoof of the Omen movies, featuring George W. Bush as Damien, the corporate Antichrist.

"Our objective conflicts with others," Satan tells the newly minted president. "Your father believed his country should look to another form of government, and he took control of that belief, so we view him as an extraordinary man. We believe, we know, that it runs in the family."

A chant follows: "He shall rise in the world of politics, the Devil's Child will rise in the world of politics."

Another cut on Sonic Jihad, called "Field Nigga Boogie," urges blacks to:

... ride or die

Put this beast on its back ...

Unless you wanna live on your knees, throw down.

This call to arms is followed by "Sheep to the Slaughter," a pounding rap overlaid with the sounds of anti-war demonstrations.

And when ya see me, understand I'm representin' a voice

The majority would feel if given a choice.

Paris' collaborations with Kam and singers from Public Enemy and Dead Prez lend vocal depth and musical complexity to the album. The bittersweet lyrics of "AWOL," about ghetto kids tricked into the Army with false promises, alternate with the battle cries of "Tear Shit Up":

Fuck the system, I'm-a holla with a black fist

It's hard truth, where my soldiers?

Unlike most contemporary rappers, Paris reserves the term "bitch" for Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld, while labeling President Bush a murderer in a photo-op jumpsuit who is too cowardly to go after a target that might shoot back. He believes that modern wars and oppression are the result of a conscious plan perpetrated by evil people, such as the Bushes, rather than by the capitalist system. He lays it all out in another song on the Sonic Jihad album, "Evil."

See, if I was wicked I would pick and stick to a plan

To rule the world and trick 'em, this is how it'd begin ...

In a school system where I'd keep the money too tight

I'd let 'em know just where they belong in my world

Turn the boys into felons, makin' hookers of girls

Swirled up in my plan, build jails to keep

All my prisons full of niggas, have 'em workin' for free ...

Teach 'em only to respect sports, music, and dope ...

They'd forget about elections and the way that we cheated ...

Then manipulate the media -- it's U.S. first

Get the stupid-ass public to agree with my words

Then I'd make the play, takin' all their freedoms away.

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So far, Sonic Jihad has sold 94,000 copies, Paris says, and is licensed for international distribution. He clears $9 per CD sale (and keeps half of the $20 people fork over for Guerrilla Funk T-shirts). Early next year, the rapper/entrepreneur will take his sonic jihad on a worldwide tour.

"To a certain degree it is necessary to participate in the capitalist system," Paris remarks during an interview at the Starbucks in downtown Orinda. "You just have to minimize your involvement with treachery, be aware of what companies are producing, like Nike."

We are outside, leisurely sipping lattes, watching SUVs come and go. Paris is casually dressed, at ease with the world. "Here at this Starbucks, life is good," he says. "If you are a consumer, you have suburbia, movies, lattes – as long as you are spending, life is good.

"The average clueless American buys into talk radio and hate speech. It's easy to pull the wool over their eyes when they don't read. But when people are informed about reality, it is human nature to become more left leaning and progressive, because it makes more sense.

"I believe we should socialize medicine and education. There should be no wanting for basic needs. We need a free-market capitalism that does not exploit people."

On the cusp of middle age, with a family and living in suburban bliss, the creator of Sonic Jihad, a revolutionary anthem, is beginning to sound like a cross between Ted Kennedy and Jesse Jackson.