Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco (pronounced "AHH-nee") (born Angela Marie Difranco on September 23, 1970) is a progressive singer, guitarist, and songwriter. DiFranco is prolific, having produced three studio albums of new material and one remix album just in 1999 (see list below). She has released at least one album every year since 1990, except in 2000 (perhaps because she released three albums in 1999 and a double album in 2001.)

Lyrics and Politics

In general, much of DiFranco's material is autobiographical, in the personal lyric tradition of the singer-songwriter. Much of her material is also strongly political, concerned with contemporary social issues such as racism, sexism and sexual abuse, homophobia, reproductive rights, poverty, and war. The combination of these two characteristics is partially responsible for the early popularity DiFranco enjoyed among politically active college students, some of whom set up fan pages on the web to document her career as early as 1994. Because of DiFranco's rapid rise in popularity in the mid-1990s—a rise that, mostly unaccompanied by mainstream press, was fueled by personal contact and word of mouth—fans often expressed a feeling of community with each other. As DiFranco has become well known, the extent to which fans may identify with such a community has lessened.

Related Topics:
Racism - Sexism - Sexual abuse - Homophobia - Reproductive rights - Poverty - War - Fan pages - Web - Mainstream press

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Perhaps because of her popularity in progressive circles, DiFranco has also expressed political views outside of her music. During the 2000 U.S. presidential election, she encouraged voting for Ralph Nader in non-battleground states. She also supported Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 primaries.

Related Topics:
2000 U.S. presidential election - Ralph Nader - Battleground states - Dennis Kucinich

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