We move on the merch, CD's, and shirts...

I clock in soon as I step on the stage I get paid when my record is played.
-Brother Ali

My homey Medium Seen recently did a write up on Brother Ali when he came to Calgary. The show was most DEFINITELY off the hook. Ali ripped it and had everybody feeling his struggle. Blueprint was in attendance and put in work. I mostly witnessed him at the bar abusing his open bar tab. He was giving a lot of props to Jaegermeister and walking around like a regular joe. My crew chatted with him for a bit and all I can say is that cat is real down to earth. I was kinda disappointed he didn't have more wax at the merch table but what can you do? I have a CD EP he did called Vitamins and Minerals which I'll rip once I get a chance to peep it. I was mostly mesmerized by the presence of Ali though. It's not everyday you get to stand and rap with a dude that is so gifted at expressing himself with spoken word as well as writing. I gave him a jersey and thanked him for penning 'Forest Whittaker' and having the courage to put his life on display. He was real real humble and said he remembered meeting me in Seoul and signing my t-shirt. As you can imagine I was shocked he remembered me and signing my t-shirt. I can only say I'd like to get to know duke better. Anyways here's the article.

BROTHER ALI
the Urban Norman Rockwell spreads blood on beats
by Sean P. Young

On the RJD2 track “Final Frontier” Brother Ali’s label mate and fellow veteran underground trench-digger Blueprint suggested that tone-deaf soundmen always worked his gigs, causing “the ass end” of his artform to become exposed.

Like those soundmen, many blogophiles distorted Ali’s importance to this millennium’s resurgence of authentic hip hop by focusing on all the wrong cadences, leaving the “white-rapper” stigma looming near Ali’s potential legacy. For years after his already classic 2003 gem Shadows on the Sun, those confused about Ali’s racial background argued if the albino rapper’s birth parents were black or white.

Finally, in March of 2007 Ali crushed the short-toothed debate, spilling his views about the matter with “Daylight” from his latest album The Undisputed Truth. “They ask me if I’m black or white? I said neither, race is a made up thing, I don’t believe in it.” With the dropping of those two crafty lines, the message board kids were given something new to ponder in their cyber caves of solitude and the fans interested in Brother Ali’s talent were once again free to listen attentively.

“The ones who really listen close to my music tell me about their personal things and how the music relates to their lives, and that’s really important to me,” Ali explains. He affirms that the Undisputed Truth title which Rhymesayers co-owner Sean “Slug” Daly had inked on his neck is meant to indicate Ali's personal experiences learning the nature of self-veracity.

“I’m not trying to educate you or lead you into believing anything in particular, these are just my feelings about certain situations,” he says.


Combining stop and rock on a dime flow, top notch historical knowledge, and production from self-taught virtuoso Ant, it’s hard not to take Ali’s political views as proclamation. The tracks “Uncle Sam God Damn” and “Letter From The Government” are introspective tales concerning forgotten American history and the frustration towards the system felt by the underclassed, respectively.

But again, Ali explains that he has no aspirations to be anybody’s ideological messiah.
“I’m not presenting myself as a leader or as a revolutionary," he says. "I don’t think that’s my role.”

The Undisputed Truth undeniably has the far-reaching capabilities to put Ali and Rhymesayers Entertainment on hip hop’s mainstage, and this may be why they decided to test Warner’s channels of distribution with Ali’s second full-length LP.

“With Warner we really have a lot of options,” Ali says. “Some of the smaller cities we play don’t have independent music shops, but now kids in those places can get my album at Target or Best Buy for about ten dollars.”

Ali, already the people’s champion for his ability to convert crowds of skeptics in seconds with his live act, seems to be chasing down his dream of being the best with a spear-gun. The positive critical and public responses to the “Urban Norman Rockwell” and his Undisputed Truth demonstrate that the dark-ages of hip hop must be coming to a close.

Who: Brother Ali
When: October 6th (The Underground, Calgary)



Blueprint - 1988

Tracklist:
01 Intro (0:27)
02 Anything Is Possible (1:30)
03 1988 (3:03)
04 Inner City Native Son (3:24)
05 Tramp (4:45)
06 Boom Box (5:18)
07 Trouble On My Mind (3:39)
08 Lo-Fi Funk (3:31)
Featuring - Aesop Rock
09 Big Girls Need Love Too (4:02)
10 Fresh (2:44)
11 Where's Your Girl At? (3:03)
12 Kill Me First (5:01)
Featuring - CJ The Cynic
13 Liberated (5:05)

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Goodie Mob - Still Standing

Tracklist:
1 The Experience (2:22)
2 Black Ice (3:25)
Bass - Andre Benjamin
Featuring - OutKast
Guitar - Carlos Glover
3 Fly Away (4:04)
Clavinet - Marvin "Chanz" Parkman
4 The Damn (4:48)
Featuring - Cool Breeze (2)
Scratches - DJ Herb
5 They Don't Dance No Mo' (Clean) (3:25)
Clavinet, Moog, Bass, Synthesizer - Organized Noize
Guitar - David Whild
Vocals - Lil' Will
6 Beautiful Skin (6:10)
Bass - Tarus Mateen
Producer - Craig Love
7 Gutta Butta (4:48)
Piano - Skinny Miracles
8 Ghetto-ology (5:35)
Congas - Omar Phillips
Featuring - Chiefton
Guitar - Craig Love
Keyboards, Producer - Cee-Lo
9 Distant Wilderness (5:28)
Guitar - Martin Terry
Piano - Marvin "Chanz" Parkman
Strings - Cee-Lo
Vocals - Debra Killings
10 Greeny Green (3:57)
Featuring - Witchdoctor
Producer - T-Mo*
11 I Refuse Limitation (6:01)
Featuring - Backbone
Guitar - Martin Terry
12 See You When I See You (2:29)
Mandolin - Teddy Kumpel
Piano - Skinny Miracles
13 Inshallah (5:03)
Producer - DJ Muggs
Scratches - DJ Herb
14 Just About Over (5:25)
Bass - Edgar Bone-E Hinton
Co-producer - Organized Noize
Drums - Victor Alexander
Guitar - Billy Odum
Percussion - Omar Phillips
Producer - David Whild
Vocals - Joi (3) , Whild Peach
15 Still Standing (4:52)
Acoustic Guitar - Shawn Grove
Congas - Kalifani
Vocals - Collier Starks , Mark Starks

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Jersey of the Day
"Mean" Joe Greene
Size 56