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It’s a long journey from “Uncle Sam Goddamn” to “Satisfied Soul,” but not nearly as long as the one Brother Ali has taken to get where he is today.Born with albinism and legally blind, Ali found solace and purpose in hip-hop from a very young age. His passion for the art form was evident even in his most personal moments — he recalls rapping at his grandmother’s funeral, a memory that showcases both his deep connection to music and his grandmother’s unwavering support for his artistic pursuits.
“That was the first time that I ever rapped on a microphone,” said Ali, who was just eight years old at the time. “This was back in the mid-‘80s, and rap wasn’t seen as a real art form. People thought it was just this kind of novelty fad that would come and go.
But she was an early childhood educator, and so she was like, ‘No, this is serious, these people are writing songs. This is expressive, this is artistic, and this is worth doing.’”Five years later Ali learned another lesson, this time while attending a University of Michigan lecture by his hip-hop hero KRS-One.
“I suddenly realized that this guy who I listened to on these records is a person, he’s not just a superhero,” Ali recalled in a recent interview.After the lecture, the upstart rapper got the chance to talk to KRS-One, who told Ali that he needed to read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” a book that sparked his interest in Islam, setting him on a path that would profoundly influence both his personal life and his music. The intersection of hip-hop, Islam, and community organizing became a cornerstone of Ali’s artistic identity.
That path would eventually lead to Rhymesayers, a music collective turned label that played an important role in shaping independent hip-hop. This crew of rappers, poets and artists — which at one point included the now-famous Run The Jewels — built a movement that often rivaled and sometimes eclipsed mainstream success.All in all, it was the perfect home for an artist whose work ran the gamut from Gil Scott-Heron’s soulful social commentary to Public Enemy’s incendiary anthems, prompting “Pitchfork” to liken Ali’s 2012 “Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color” album to an “active duty report from the front lines.
” A case in point: “See the anguish of the parents / When they’re carrying the body of the baby that they cherish / When innocent people perish / It’s a very thin line between a soldier and a terrorist.”For Ali, it was an opportunity to create music about life and death, politics and personal growth, without the constraints of appealing to the lowest industry denominator.Ali spent 15 years with Rhymesayers, before making one of his most important life decisions.
He and his family moved to Istanbul five years ago, a relocation that’s deeply influenced his life and music. The city’s rich Islamic heritage and the calls to prayer from its thousand operational mosques have provided a new sonic and spiritual backdrop for his work.“You’ll hear the call to prayer over the loudspeaker in your neighborhood mosque, and then you’ll hear the other ones echoing in the distance,” said Ali of what might be likened to a city-wide call-and-response song.
“And they’re not recordings. In every single mosque, every single time, that’s a live person doing an operatic-level performance five times a day.”This environment has also had a profound impact on Ali’s family life.
His young daughters are growing up bilingual, immersed in Turkish culture while maintaining connections to their American roots. For Ali, this multicultural upbringing represents the best of both worlds, allowing his children to develop a broad, inclusive worldview.Ali’s current tour finds him out on the road supporting “Satisfied Soul,” the new album he made with Ant, who is half the hip-hop duo Atmosphere.
He plays Tuesday at MilkBoy Philadelphia.While the two have worked together on multiple albums, “Satisfied Soul” stands as a bracingly beautiful collection, the culmination of years of friendship and musical synergy.“All the music that you hear us make is basically our friendship in a musical form,” said Ali, whose rhymes fit seamlessly into Ant’s carefully curated mix of samples, beats, and synthesizers.
Ali speaks of the process with reverence, describing how the support from the producer made the project possible.“He’s a producer, but he’s also kind of a therapist,” Ali said, “one of these people that can really help you frame these major chapters of your life. And, you know, this has been another big transformation, and he’s just really great at understanding it and then providing me with the music and moods and things that will help me get all this stuff out.
”Ali sees music as a way to share knowledge and foster understanding, even in troubled times. It’s a view grounded in his experiences connecting with people from diverse backgrounds through his music and faith.“I’m generally optimistic and at peace,” said Ali, who sees politicians and social media as playing no small role in the current climate of distrust and alienation.
“All the messaging is so binary and so divisive, but if you go to most places where people actually interact with each other, America is still very civil. It’s like, hey, it’s okay. Everybody’s good underneath it all, and it’s gonna be OK.
”Bill Forman is a freelance writer..
