| The Beatnigs | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | San Francisco, United States |
| Genre: | Industrial hip hop, political hip hop, avant-garde, spoken word poetry |
| Years Active: | 1986–1990 |
| Spinoffs: | The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Broun Fellinis |
| Past Members: | Michael Franti Kevin Carnes Rono Tse Henry Flood Andre Flores |
The Beatnigs were a San Francisco-based band active between 1986 and 1990, influenced by industrial music, hip hop and hardcore punk.
Michael Franti and Rono Tse met each other clubbing in San Francisco. In 1986, Franti and Tse formed the band with Kevin Carnes, Andre Flores and Henry Flood. Troy Dixon joined later as a touring member.[1] [2]
In 1988, The Beatnigs released a self-titled studio album and a 12" EP of their most famous song,[3] [4] "Television". Both on the record label Alternative Tentacles.[5] That same year they played their New York City debut at the New Music Seminar,[6] and recorded for the BBC's Peel Sessions.[7] The band toured with Billy Bragg and Michelle Shocked in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Other groups they performed with include D.O.A., MDC, Fugazi, Living Colour and Einstürzende Neubauten.[8] [9]
Franti and Tse would later form The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. They reworked the Beatnigs song "Television" to become "Television, The Drug of the Nation" for the new group. Carnes would later form Broun Fellinis.
The band's stage performance included the use of power tools such as a rotary saw and grinder on a metal bar to create industrial noise and pyrotechnics.[10] Their sound included poetry and elements of african drumming.[11] They were described in The Rough Guide to Rock as "a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective".[12]
The single "Television" was reissued by Alternative Tentacles in 2002, and the album was planned for a CD re-release while made available on iTunes and other digital retailers.
According to KQED, Beatnigs' and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's influence can be heard in artists such as JPEGMAFIA and Death Grips.