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On stage, Brother Ali is the kind of MC who delivers what you need to know and then sends you home, but not before you absolutely lose your shit. He is a descriptive, yet concise storyteller with that brand of arrogance achieved through self-made opportunities and a lot of heart. He has you laughing about toilet paper and groupies one minute, he has you angry about struggling to pay bills the next. With clean, intense rhymes, Brother Ali's thinly veiled honesty welcomes the unfamiliar, thanks the dedicated and champions the naysayers.
Around 1997, the freshest hip-hop being played in the Twin Cities was on a radio program called "The Beatbox." Brother Ali brought his demo to the station one Saturday, a move that produced some airplay and lasting friendships. As a host and co-founder of the show, BK One was among the first to believe in Brother Ali. The two instantly vibed and began using the radio station's equipment as a makeshift studio. Through "The Beatbox," Ali was also introduced to key figures running Rhymesayers, the record label he would eventually join.
Now his DJ, BK One explains the transition from supporter to co-worker. "After he fired the DJ he was working with, I was the obvious choice. We were great friends, and I already knew all of his songs!" It's that Midwestern work ethic combined with earnest that has warranted Brother Ali a name among Minnesota's eminent musicians. "The people here are very proud and supportive of good music." While artists in other cities got down with previously established circles, Minneapolis hip-hop enthusiasts had to generate their own. DJ BK One rationalizes, "Every city has people worth hearing. Most of them just complain about the lousy scene though. Minneapolis didn't have a scene ten years ago, so they made one."
Offstage, Ali has spent hours in the studio with the imaginative ANT, a producer whose resume reads like your Christmas wish list. Currently the two are shaping Ali's forthcoming full-length album. "I know that ANT and I have improved respectively and I'm really excited about what we're doing." Guaranteed are the braggadocio-meets-introspection lyrics that crowned 2003's “Shadows on the Sun.” But as a growing artist constructing his own vision, Brother Ali isn't just filling in the blanks. "I learned not to start a project with an end in mind, but just to create as honestly as I can whatever feels right." This sincerity has led him to annihilate shit talkers in battle, stretch the scope of his content, explore the merit of personal labors, and accept praise from hip-hop legends. "Maceo, the DJ for De la Soul, watched our set once and stepped to me and BK afterwards and gave us what felt to be a very sincere compliment."
Off the record, Brother Ali and DJ BK One both express the challenge of connecting hip-hop's underground with mainstream audiences. The gap is rarely bridged as both groups are blindly dismissive. "Underground fans miss a lot of incredible music because they think that if the jocks at their school know it, it can't be good. Mainstream fans are oblivious to the fact that there is a middle ground between amateur and superstar." With ANT's production, DJ BK One's energy on stage and Ali's flat out talent, it's going to be difficult for anybody to reject what he brings to the game. Ali concludes, "They all end up on our side."
Brother Ali and DJ BK One perform at Bumbershoot Saturday, September 4 at 7pm on the What’s Next stage..
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