Brother Ali has spent the better part of 2007 touring in support of his second LP, The Undisputed Truth the subject of much "hip-hop album of the year" murmuring. Ali treated those willing to brave the freezing temperatures to a fiery performance as he brought the Memorial Union's "Homegrown Hip-Hop Festival" to a close Saturday night.
After DJ BK-One got the crowd moving with slew of classic dance tracks, Brother Ali opened his set with the first three songs from The Undisputed Truth. Proclaiming that the night's performance was not a show but a "party," Ali proceeded into "Self Taught," a song that touches on a topic often found in his music — Ali's superiority over other, less innovative rappers.
Instead of a set leaning heavily on the album he was touring in support of, Brother Ali presented a well-balanced show, including "Dorian" and "Room With A View," both from Ali's debut LP <em>Shadows on the Sun</em>. The closing lyrics of the latter song contain a perfect example of Ali's mantra: "You can call me modern urban Norman Rockwell/ I paint a picture of the spot well."
After a heartfelt rendition of "Faheem," Ali's ode to his young son, BK-One segued into "Forest Whitiker." A song about loving oneself despite not being the textbook definition of beautiful, "Forest Whitiker" found the energetic capacity crowd singing every word along with Ali. His latest single from The Undisputed Truth"Take Me Home," was next on the set list, followed by perhaps the best song in Brother Ali's catalog, "Rain Water." Illustrating the insurmountable roadblocks Ali has faced in his life, "Rain Water" is the perfect song for anyone up to the neck in a bad situation.
As "Rain Water" faded, the track flowed into the opening bassline of Ali's searing portrait of contemporary America, "Uncle Sam Goddamn." The crowd took up the track's politics, raising, as Ali put it, "fists like the '68 Olympics."
Mimicking the song's subject matter, Brother Ali was all smiles as he rounded out the first set with a track explaining how he's finally found happiness in his life, "Ear To Ear," which closes The Undisputed Truth. As soon as he left the stage, deafening chants of "Ali, Ali" broke out and continued until he returned for his encore.
The encore featured "Pedigree," a song he performed for the first time ever in concert at an April show at the High Noon Saloon. The evening came to a close with the seminal track "Champion," which found BK-One presenting the song's original beats from <em>Shadows on the Sun</em> for the first verse and the remixed beats from the Champion EP for the remainder of the song.
Not to sound like a broken record, but hip-hop is currently in a cancerous state. But if Brother Ali's performance in front of a Rathskeller crowd packed to the back proves one thing, it is that there are still those out there making real hip-hop and there is still a large audience willing to listen. As long as we have musicians like Ali, hip-hop's last day is not going to be any time soon.
