Brother Ali can accomplish what your mother was never able to: He can get you to go back to church.
On his newest album, Us, Brother Ali’s trademark message of acceptance and optimism — elements usually seen in religion, not rap — is more prevalent than ever.
Ali recognizes this, opening the album with “Brothers and Sisters,” a brief spoken word introduction by hip-hop legend Chuck D. The beat, consisting of audible interjections by a church congregation, plodding handclaps and a gospel choir, prepares the listener for an hourlong sermon by Brother Ali. You almost expect the snores of the elderly to be scattered throughout the album.
So when Brother Ali is finally introduced in the aptly-titled song, “The Preacher,” he enters with in-your-face grit and energy, forcing the congregation to sit up and pay attention. “I came here to turn the party out/ Y’all know just what I’m all about.”
The listener knows what to expect from Ali, and he delivers on that promise.
Ali combines personal storytelling with elements of hip-hop swagger for a deeply personal look into the life of one of rap’s most unusual underground superstars. On “Fresh Air,” the Minneapolis resident brags about selling out shows in his hometown and then immediately celebrates the fact that his son’s grandmother has been drug-free for eight years. It results in a bizarre contrast, but the brutal honesty is refreshing.
His storytelling ability is in full force in “Babygirl,” a song chronicling the difficult childhood of a poverty-stricken woman. Brother Ali’s delivery is spot-on, pulling back the intensity that opened the album and replacing it with softer-spoken verses that handle the sensitive issues addressed in the song. Ali’s sorrow is genuine, so we can believe it when he says, “I would shoulder that pain and take it off of you.”
Ant, who is best known as being the production half of underground rap icon Atmosphere, once again produces Brother Ali’s newest album. His production on Us is simply spectacular. Ant’s beats are exotic, each one sounding more fresh and diverse than the last. With the Middle Eastern-flavored “Breakin’ Dawn,” the marimba-driven track titled “The Travelers” and the reggae-influenced “Best@it,” Ant provides an international flavor that would make Carmen Sandiego jealous. The eccentric production provides a solid foundation for Brother Ali’s wordplay. The album sounds unusual, but that’s a good thing.
One thing that is noticeably absent from Us is Ali’s fervent discontent that surfaced on other albums. Ali hasn’t suddenly become apathetic — his life is just too damn good right now. He approves of the man in the White House, he was married in 2008 and now has a newborn daughter. As a result, he strays away from attacking subjects like politics, which was a staple of his previous work.
The album concludes with the title track, “Us.” Ant brought back the gospel choir and handclaps to bring Ali’s turn at the pulpit to a close. In the song, Ali says, “I started rhyming just to be somebody/ Found out that I already was.” Amen.
4 stars out of 5.
