The Next Big Step

Brother Ali is a bit frustrated, despite the facts that his rap star is rising, he’s on a well-hyped tour with Murs and he’s currently hunched over a plate of fresh roasted pollo in Salt Lake City, “and it’s damn delicious too.” But his ire’s up. The previous day, he read an article in a hometown paper that focused primarily on the unique characteristics Ali possess that have virtually nothing to do with his music.
“Yeah, these motherfuckers are out of their minds. There’s one guy in Minneapolis who I’m tryin’ to be my higher, better self about, and not whup his fuckin’ ass,” spits the Midwestern MC, who also happens to be an albino and a Muslim, as well as the latest debut artist from the Rhymesayers camp, which was co-founded by Atmosphere MC Slug. Ali, who is friendly, articulate and forthcoming, obviously has beef with writers who don’t do their homework, and rightly so. “Mainly I’ve noticed that, a lot of time that, when I deal with white male reporters who aren’t used to dealing with hip-hop, the story becomes about me being white, which is incorrect, or about me being an albino, which is a reality. But I don’t worry about it. Today I’m pissed because I just read that article, so it’s got me kinda hot, but in general, it’s just like, whatever, man. I’ve been dealing with shit like that my whole life, and I’m not gonna loose any sleep over it.”
Ali is much more interested in talking about his new album, Shadows On The Sun, a strong and soulful effort produced by Rhymesayers stable knob turner, Ant.
“He’s really good at finding what’s going to sound right for whoever the rapper is, hearing the potential in an artist and trying to bring out the different parts of them with the music that he brings to the table. He definitely did that with me,” confides Ali, who has become best friends and a regular collaborator with his fellow Minneapolan. The two share an artistic ethic, says Ali, to go with the proverbial flow, create in the moment and harvest the cream of the crop when it’s all said and done rather than obsess on each track. “That’s really Ant’s way of doing things — try whatever idea comes up, and if it doesn’t work, just don’t use it. I think that some artists feel like they have to put out everything they make, but not everything you make is going to be excellent.”
With the release of his national debut, Ali sees his development as a rapper as having reached a certain point of accomplishment, but he also knows that there are still plenty of big steps on the road to the rap hall of fame.
“I think that the big step that I took on this album — which is my first real album, in a real studio — was to not think ahead of time about what the outcome was going to be, not think about what I wanted the album to sound like, what I wanted it to be like or be about. I just wanted to sit down and work as often as I got a chance and do whatever I felt at that particular point,” says Ali, who has also honed his style on the road with the likes of Cannibal Ox, Atmosphere, Mr. Lif and more. “I think a lot of people start out writing songs thinking that they want to make a radio song or an emotional song or a hard song that’s good for a live show. So instead of really honestly creating and expressing what they’re thinking and going through and feeling at that time, they’re confined by this goal that they have in their head of they think they want to do. So for me, that was a major step.”

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