Folk’s DiFranco Shows Her Tough Side

Now that rap-rock is on top of the album charts, are you ready for folk-rap?

Ani DiFranco is apparently intrigued--not that she’s likely to make an entire album in the style.

But the singer-songwriter teamed up with a rapper on one of her hard-edged folk songs Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre, one of many adventurous steps by one of the most captivating figures in contemporary pop. DiFranco also had a modern dancer interpret the emotions of one song, “Up Up Up Up Up Up,” and teamed with members of funk legend Maceo Parker’s band on a few other tunes.

Just booking Parker’s group as the opening act was a daring step for someone so rooted in folk, but it was a welcome reminder that there are really only two kinds of music: good and bad. The booking would have been even classier if DiFranco hadn’t spent nearly five minutes pointing out the move to the audience. But obviousness is one of the few chinks in this pop superhero’s armor.

Although her best tunes have challenging and insightful lyrics, she succumbs at times to mere sloganizing in her constant looks at the tacky and malignant elements in society. Even then, however, DiFranco brings a passion and commitment to her music that is rarely found in today’s pop world.

The most dramatic moment Saturday was a fiery new song expressing revulsion over violence in America, including the entertainment industry’s role in it. “Open fire on Hollywood!” she commands at one point in the song, adding a litany of other targets, including the major TV networks and the National Rifle Assn. By using imagery that mirrors what she sees as the ugliness of profiting on violence, DiFranco laced the song with an anger and accusation reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s most liberating ‘60s work.