Is white-bread-rap-rock a bonafide genre? Or maybe we’ll go along with Rhapsody’s genre grouping: “the mid-west basement.” Either way, Brother Ali is bringing old school thought provoking hip-hop flavor straight out of…Minneapolis?
Surprising as it may seem, he’s not alone–the corn growing, walleye fishing, snow covered Midwest has birthed several rhymers (Atmosphere, P.o.s., Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, Common, etc) who bring lyrics back into the game, and (thank God) have for the most part abandoned the “bitches and hoes” or “shoot ‘em up” raps that have bombarded us from both coasts for the last decade.
Brother Ali is a talented rapper, and his instrumentals are a nice mix of old school sampling, new school electronica beats, and straight up real instruments (some cool guitar riffs on “Whatcha’ Got, reminded me of the Aerosmith/Run DMC mash up of “Walk This Way”).
The new Album “The Undisputed Truth” (Rhymesayers Records) comes out today. While I had heard the single “The Truth Is” played on the current (my local favorite station) I found myself tapping my toes along to the rest of the album as well. I can’t say that this album is going to be a hit up in the club, but that’s not where he’s aiming. If chillin out, kickin it old school, stream of consciousness rhymes are your deal, than check out Brother Ali.
