Brother Ali

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Brother Ali
Birth name Jason Newman
Origin Flag of the United States Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genre(s) Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, Producer
Years active 1999–Present
Label(s) Rhymesayers Entertainment/Warner Music Group
Website Official Website
Rhymesayers Entertainment

Brother Ali (born Jason Newman, now Ali Newman) is an American hip hop artist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Ali moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at age 15, where he became involved in the local hip hop scene. Ali is currently signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, a hiphop record label founded by Brent Sayers, Musab S'ad Ali, Derek Turner, Anthony Davis, and Slug, the frontman of Minnesota rap group Atmosphere, with whom Ali has become fast friends. Due to his original reluctance to discuss his race, it was at first wrongly reported that he was African American. He has stated "I'm albino, my family is white, but I was really raised, and taught my important life lessons, by the black community."[1][2] Although his appearance made him the brunt of bullying in high school (his response is chronicled on the track "Win Some, Lose Some"), he has come to be unabashedly proud of his distinctive features, celebrating it in a track called "Forest Whitiker", where he called on "anyone out there who's a little different" to stand up and exult in who they are, rather than stay ashamed. Ali is also a devout Muslim, religion being a theme that is mentioned in several of his songs including "Self taught" and "Victory."

Though he initially produced his own material (his cassette tape-only Rites of Passage EP (2000) was self-produced), Brother Ali turned to Ant (Anthony Davis), Rhymesayers Entertainment's in-house producer, to produce his first two major releases on Rhymesayers, 2003's Shadows on the Sun and 2004's Champion EP, on which he sampled the Black Ivory track "It's Time To Say Goodbye" in "Love On Display". The albums immediately proved popular with fans who had largely been introduced to Ali when he opened for Atmosphere on their national tour for the God Loves Ugly album. Ant's funk- and soul-inflected beats often matched the gravitas of Ali's rhymes. Ali's buoyant, agile flow and exuberant, expressive voice resonated on key tracks such as "Star Quality," "Picket Fence," "Forest Whitiker," "Chain Link," and "Rain Water."

Ali's second LP, The Undisputed Truth, was initially due out on March 6, 2007 but was later postponed to an April 10, 2007 release date. The single "Truth Is" was released in early 2007, with "Freedom Ain't Free" as the B side. Both tracks slightly strayed from Ant's trademark soul dipped style, and were tinged with a dub/roots reggae influence.

Brother Ali tours with his DJ, BK One, occasionally his hype man Toki Wright (who asserts that he is not a "hype man", but a "live band"), and has opened for Rakim, Kid Capri, and Brand Nubian, among others.

Ali has a son named Faheem, who he refers to often and who is also the subject of the track by the same name from the album "The Undisputed Truth." Faheem sometimes travels with Ali and has his own song on the Mixtape "Off the Record" called "Original Prince", which he has performed live.

Ali's third single, "Take Me Home," was made into a music video that was circulated by MTV, as well as made available by Ali through MySpace and YouTube. [1].

[edit] Press

Brother Ali has been featured in the hip hop magazine, The Source, twice. The first was in August 2007, when he had the "Hip Hop Quotable" for this verse in "Uncle Sam Goddamn".

All must bow to the fat and lazy,
The fuck you obey me and why do they hate me (Who me?)
Only two generations away from the World's most despicable slavery trade,

Pioneered so many ways to degrade a human being,
That it can't be changed to this day,
Legacy so ingrained in the way that we think,
We no longer need chains to be slaves,

Lord it's a shameful display,
The overseers even got raped along the way,
Cause the children can't escape from the pain,
And they [sic] born with the poisonous hatred in their veins,

Try and separate a man from his soul,
You'll only strengthen him and lose your own,
We'll shoot that fucker if he walk near the throne,
Remind him that this is my home, Now, I'm gone.

In October 2007 he was featured in an interview in The Source. In May 2007, he was featured in Rolling Stone as a "New Artist to Watch".

TV Appearances

On August 13th, 2007 Brother Ali appeared on The Late Late Show and performed his single, Uncle Sam Goddamn off of The Undisputed Truth. On October 19th, 2007 Ali appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and performed "Take Me Home" from The Undisputed Truth.

[edit] Inspirations

Brother Ali has said many times in interviews that he finds much of his inspiration in the 'golden era' of hip hop. In particular, he has highlighted KRS-One and Rakim on numerous occasions.[3]

In an interview in early 2007, Ali memorably responded to a question about the response to his and his label's music, and the current music industry,

They just like to see something new. Like, we benefit so much right now from the fact that music sucks, and that, there's so little originality. And there's so few people that are really trying to do something a little bit different so that if you're just even a little bit different. You know what I mean? People are just like 'yeah,' you know. As long as you're good and as long as you know how to present yourself, and you know. But I think that people are just happy to see something a little bit different for a change, you know.[4]

[edit] "Uncle Sam Goddamn" Controversy

Main article: Uncle Sam Goddamn

Brother Ali has been under pressure from the recording industry due to lyrics from his recent song "Uncle Sam Goddamn", claiming creative interference from "somebody I don't wanna name, but some of you probably has they cell phones." [sic] The unnamed corporation ultimately withdrew its sponsorship for Ali, causing him to truncate parts of his current tour.[5][4] The song is notably critical of the American government, with accusations that the American political system is addicted to war. For example:

"You don't give money to the bums
On the corner with a sign, bleeding from their gums
Talking about you don't support a crackhead
What you think happens to the money from yo' taxes?

Shit the government's the addict
With a billion dollar a week kill-brown-people habit
And even if you ain't on the front line
When the master yell crunch time you right back at it

You ain't look at how you hustling backwards
And the end of the year add up what they subtracted
Three outta 12 months your salary
Paid for that madness; man that's sadness

What's left get a big ass plasma
To see where they made Dan Rather point the damn camera
Only approved questions get answered
Now stand your ass up for that national anthem."

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album information
Rites of Passage
Shadows on the Sun
Champion EP
The Undisputed Truth

[edit] Mixtapes

Album information
Brother Ali & BK-One present: Off The Record

[edit] Singles

  • "Room With a View" b/w "Star Quality" & "Bitchslap!" (Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2003)
  • "Champion (Remix)" b/w "Forest Whitiker" (Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2004)
  • "Truth Is" b/w "Freedom Ain't Free" & "Original King" (Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2007)
  • "Uncle Sam Goddamn" (2007)
  • Life Sentence EP (2007)
  • "Forest Whitaker" (Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2007)

[edit] International

Uncle Sam Goddamn EP (2007)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brusie, David (2007-04-26). Brother Ali. The Onion. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  2. ^ Scholtes, Peter S. (2007-04-11). Dark Star. City Pages. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  3. ^ Rhymesayers Entertainment. Rhymesayers Homepage - Brother Ali Biography. Retrieved on May 23, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Nuntida. Brother Ali interview with Barber Shop Hip Hop.
  5. ^ Brother Ali. Truth Is - Live in Portland.
  6. ^ IndieHQ 2.0 » Independent Sales Chart 7-25-07

[edit] External links

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Rhymesayers Entertainment
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Ant  · Atmosphere  · Brother Ali  · Blueprint  · DJ Abilities  · Dynospectrum  · Eyedea  · Eyedea & Abilities  · Felt  · Mac Lethal  · MF DOOM · Mr. Dibbs  · P.O.S.  · Slug  · Soul Position  ·
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