“Hey there, we’re back! You’re listening to KCRP and what you just heard were the top five songs on the Billboard rap chart. Hot, hot, hotness! Those tracks are fire! Before we play some more bangin’ tunes for you guys we have some guy named Penfold in the studio with us. Penfold, you dig music right?”
“Yes, I love music.”
“Well Pen, what do you think of those songs we just played? Bangers right?”
“They were all right I guess.”
“What!? Are you serious? Just all right?”
“Honestly, I couldn’t tell that more than two songs had played the entire time. It all sounded the same to me.”
“Oh I get it. You just don’t like rap music, huh?”
“What? No! I love hip hop.”
“Yeah, whatever. I know a lie when I hear one. Tell you what. Why don’t you just get out of here man? See ya!”
Well, that ended quickly. They cut off my microphone and rapidly showed me to the door. One moment I’m inside a radio station, the next I’m outside very early on a drizzly Sunday morning. These situations spring up often in my life and even though I am not normally at fault, I always feel lousy afterwards. On this day, and in spite of the drizzle, I decided that I would attempt to walk off my disappointment. I set off down the street with my eyes downcast, not really paying attention to where I was going. After walking for a few minutes I glanced upwards and something beautiful caught my attention. There was a solid beam of sunlight piercing the low hanging overcast. I decided to treat the sunlight as if it was a spotlight, and set out to discover what it was shining upon.
I rounded the next street corner and found my answer. The sunlight was bathing what appeared to be a converted church with a warm, friendly glow. The structure had all the common church features: steeples, gothic architecture, stairs leading to large wooden entry doors, a bell tower, and people in fine clothing milling about. But this was definitely not your normal place of worship. Where you would expect to see crosses there were depictions of microphones in front of turntables. My curiosity would not allow me to leave without discovering what was happening here, so I entered the building and sat down in a pew located in the rear of the assembly hall. Behind the pulpit, which was also adorned with the microphone/turntable emblem, the choir you might expect to see was replaced with a full band dressed in flowing red robes. Pretty cool I thought. The real surprise however was seeing the legendary Chuck D of Public Enemy fame stride on stage behind the pulpit, wave his hands for silence, signal the band, and begin to address the audience.
Let me tell you something. From the moment that speech ended, it was on! The man known as Brother Ali appeared on stage as if shot from a cannon, and the band went into overdrive with the drums thumping and the horns blaring! The packed house, myself included, went nuts! The rapid fire lyrical delivery of the first song performed, entitled “The Preacher”, left me in a state of shell shock. While my mind failed to fully comprehend the message of the song, I knew with utter certainty that this was an artist not interested in propagating stupidity, materialism, or violence. Yes sir, one song and I was hooked! But I was not prepared for what came next. “Crown Jewels” brought the energy level back down to reasonable levels and the first verse Brother Ali rapped went like this.
“I glide across the surface with my head held high / Shoulders pushed back, I’m convinced I’ll never die / Got a squint to my eye like I can’t take the world in / Too much beauty to behold by one person / Wear the sky around my shoulder like a tailor made cloak / create or decorated with my never fadin’ hopes / My same old skin like the robe of a King / Gold, platinum bling happen to grow from my chin / Sun keeps kissin’ my cheek as if it has to / And the Earth under my feet become a castle / Any word I endeavor to speak, I command you / Die grammer plan to make the Devil unhand you / Should the elements change and it ever rain / Drops fall around me, my garment is never stained / This is what God had in mind for me / Shine like the stars in the sky just align for me.”
Is that one of the coolest, best lyrical verses I have ever come across? Yes. Yes it is. And that was only the tip of the iceberg! The rest of the performance was filled to the brim with storytelling, message tracks, and braggadocio of the highest order. I later learned that I had seen a full beginning-to-end performance of Brother Ali’s newest album Us. Essentially, the songs that make up this album are designed to give the middle finger (please excuse my coarseness) to anyone who believes that hip hop/rap songs cannot be thought provoking or emotionally powerful. To break it down further, if you want to mull over a subject broached by an intelligent artist look no further than the songs “Tight Rope”, “The Travelers”, and “Slippin’ Away”. Do you simply want to listen to imaginative boasting? Look no further than “Bad Mufucka Pt. II” or “Best @ It”, especially the latter with talk of his peer group. Lastly, if you want a song to devastate you (in a good way…in a good way) listen to either “Breakin Dawn” or “Babygirl”. Need a sample to see what I’m referring to? All right, here is the second verse from “Babygirl”.
“How can she find peace in her mind when / Love means returning to the scene of a crime? / I can feel it inside we’ve reopened wounds every time we intertwine / Such an evil design when you can’t even enjoy the sweetness you find / Trying to see through the tears in your eyes and rebuild your shrine one piece at a time / E & K made it all fade away / Colors don’t burn no more it’s all gray / Can’t find heaven from within that shell but it’s enough of a blessing if just not seen hell / Constant inner dialog says just end the roller coaster ride you’re on / Only one solution seems final: slide into a hole where your pain can’t find you.”
For crying out loud, I’m in awe just typing out these lyrics! People, I beseech you. Seek out a copy of Brother Ali’s Us at your earliest opportunity. I’ve been listening to it since it was released in late 2009, and I can attest that I always feel incredibly foolish when I come back to the album after even a short time away. It is a bona fide modern classic that all waveriders interested in good music need to experience as soon as humanly possible.
-- Penfold
Buy here: Us
Buy here mp3: Us [Explicit]
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