August 04
The Riverside Th..
BROTHER ALI’S FINEST HOUR
BY JOHNNY FIRECLOUD, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2009
<font size = "2"Many albums cross Antiquiet’s review desk each week, and more than a few times over the years we’ve asked for your trust on projects and artists you may never have heard of. It’s that time again, but Brother Ali’s Us is a screaming bullet shot ahead of anything I’ve put on your radar thus far. This album is a staggering achievement of organic instrumentation and lyrical ninjitsu that far eclipses any Hip-Hop album of 2009, and possibly the last five years. If you take one musical chance this year, make it this one.
Brother Ali, a legally-blind albino from Minneapolis who serves as the Rhymesayers crew’s own KRS-One, has been dropping next-level street philosophy over the span of five remarkable, increasingly-gravitational official releases and a slew of underground material. Often abandoning traditional floss-tones for self-referential storytelling sessions that showed classic promise, his angle was never quite the norm – but it wasn’t until Us that Ali has truly taken flight and shined his light outward.
For the first time on record, Ali fully shifts his focus from the autobiographical to a social narrative, entirely abandoning the self-prosthelytizing helium swagger that most emcees ride through their entire careers. Doing so is a literal unshackling of bonds for Ali, who sets upon this remarkable collection of stories like a seasoned street preacher.
This time around, the hooks aren’t just head-nodders – they’re wrecking balls. Anthony “Ant” Davis of Atmosphere returns to the knobs, but concerns of repetition are quickly laid to rest as the album overflows with live music. The beats and strings are genuine, as is the real-live full horn section and the lush, soulful sound of an actual church choir in St. Paul, Minnesota. The album reeks of truth and authenticity.
Talk about sure-fire best-impression blessings: Chuck D gives a sermonic introduction to the man in the hymnal first track, calling Ali “a soldier in the war for love” who “carries with him a message of true hope – and true peace.” The message is clear: the prophet has arrived with the community truth, and the shift in focus from self to surroundings is the sonic equivalent of a hard-bred workhorse removing its blinders and running apeshit wild.
In Breakin’ Dawn, just try not to feel the gravity in the “preach on, mister preacher man” line over the contagious kick-clap beat. The song’s powerful enough before you dive into the lyrics, which tell a masterfully-spun tale of the disabled son of a slave master who’s only embraced by his family for his singing talent. A sobering story, but that’s just the tip of the narrative iceberg on Us.
http://www.antiquiet.com/reviews/2009/09/brother-ali-us-review
SOOO EXCITED!
soooooo unbelieveably stoked!!!!