Hip Hop artist Brother Ali digs deep into his life’s experiences for lyrical inspiration
Brother Ali is a rarity in more ways than one. Foremost, Ali is an underground artist with a deep understanding of the basic tenets of good hip-hop, an MC who remembers tourmate Rakim’s famous definition of the term (“To me MC means ‘move the crowd.’”), and a “conscious” rapper who tends to defy the limitations of the term. He was also born with albinism, an inherited condition that is present in one in 17,000 people. According to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH), people with albinism have little or no pigment in their eyes, skin or hair, and poor vision. Though he’s legally blind, Ali seems to have no problem with ‘vision.’ “I try to make the most powerful music I can possibly make,” he says. “The things that have always attracted me to music are when I can really feel like somebody is pouring their heart and soul into what they’re doing, where you can really feel like you’re hearing their real life pain: their joy, or anger, or fear, or anything that’s really strong. Anything that moves me in life, that’s what I want to figure out how to carry over into music. I think that people really relate, on a human level, to those feelings, even if they haven’t had the same experiences.” Relating his life’s experiences seems to be what Brother Ali, born in Madison, Wis., is best at. His newest album, The Undisputable Truth, contains the requisite MC braggadocio and some focused political commentary (“Uncle Sam Goddamn” is one of the least grating political hip hop tracks in recent memory), but what sound like incredibly difficult personal times provide the material for his most riveting tracks. “I don’t love you, don’t ever think I did / And if you hadn’t tried to kill me, I’d have stayed for the kids,” Ali raps on “Walking Away,” a song about his first marriage that lasted nine years. His critically celebrated first album, Shadows on the Sun, is also an intensely personal document. Subject matter ranges from his appearance (“I’m albino man, I know I’m pink and pale / And I’m hairy as hell, everywhere but fingernails”) to Ghostface-influenced first person narratives, like the domestic-violence tale “Dorian.” When Ali plays the Catalyst on Nov. 1, he’ll share the stage with Wu-Tang Clan members, Ghostface and Rakim, both of whom he counts as significant influences. “They’re two legends and I’m kind of the up-and-coming underground rapper,” Ali admits. “Rakim’s someone whose lyrics I had completely memorized at 12 years old.” After the release of Shadows on the Sun, things started moving quickly for Ali. An encounter with Rakim at Austin’s South By Southwest festival landed him a coveted spot on the Hip Hop Live! tour, a national affair with a 10-piece live band in lieu of turntables. “Rakim took us in,” Ali recalls. “We were out there not making a whole lot of money, a really small crew, basically just me and my DJ. Rakim’s crew was like ‘Anything you guys need, just let me know.’ Now when we do this live tour, I’m going to be traveling with Rakim and I think that relationship with him is going to be really key in making this all work out.” The tour’s triptych of rappers bridges the artificial gaps between Midwest and New York hip hop, between “conscious” and “mainstream” or “gangsta,” constructs that Ali eschews. “We can’t let the music industry section things off and divide it up,” he says. “We started picking sides based on that and that’s when hip hop started getting out of our hands and into the hands of somebody who doesn’t care about it.” Brother Ali performs with the Hip Hop Live Tour at the Catalyst at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, at 1011 Pacific Ave. in Santa Cruz. For more information call 423-1338 or visit catalystclub.com . Tickets are $29/advance; $34/door.
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