Sage Francis' 'Blue' Video Debuts, Focuses On Veterans

Sage Francis stopped by HuffPost Live on Monday to debut the new music video for "Blue," a cut off the Providence rapper's mixtape "SICK TO D(EAT)H."

"I think I got sick to death of a lot of the stuff that I was involved with," Francis told host Mike Sacks on HuffPost Live on Monday. "Now I'm in a rebirthing period -- I'm releasing stuff independently... this is the first time I do it on Strange Famous Records." The rapper framed this mixtape and his next album as a return to music after surviving a difficult period in his life (and a decade of relentless touring).

The track, which takes a deep dive into the psychology of war and being a soldier, was inspired in part by a conversation Francis had with an Iraqi war veteran who survived a helicopter crash. It's political stuff, which is hardly unfamiliar territory for the rapper's fans.

"When people are coming home and dealing with trauma... I wanted to address that," Francis said of "Blue." "We've been at war for 10 years, and the war is coming home. Not in the way that most people use that phrase, but it's coming to the household."

Here's a sampling of lyrics from the track:

Deep down, they know they really wanna do is break something

That's what they're trained to do

And then they say to you

"Just cause you see the devil in my eyes don't make it true"

And I say, "true enough"

All that fire in your eyes shows pain

But the flame ain't blue enough

"The benefits [of being on an independent label] is that I control everything," Francis said. "Financially it will do me well, and I just want to make sure that [the new music] doesn't fall under anyone's radar." As for what fans can look forward to from the next album? "I think it's going to be punchier than my last album," Francis revealed. "That's what I'm feeling right now."