brother ali - the undisputed truth

so there i was dropping a new cd in the machine yesterday playing the album 3 times solid, only to shout out why cant all new hip hop be as good as this !

believing to be the only person getting this particular funk, today i open the new issue of hip hop connection only to see a full page review and a well deserved 4/5 grade.

brother ali has been working the scene for a while, with the promise of being regarded as one of the greatest of all time being dropped into the press release.

of course stepping up to the task and dropping names such as rakim into the plan, as well as scattering the sonic back ground with run dmc and public enemy scratches, is going to raise heckles of many, but on the strength of this excellent album i aint going to put it against the man.

rather than taking the scattershot star producer guest spot route of most hip hop albums, the set has been produced by long time producer ant, thus giving a consistency often missing. the fact that ant has a love for funky old school loops, simple stripped back instrumentation makes this all the more loveable. from the opening hard rock-rap styles of watcha got (rick rubin would be proud of this hard hittin’ monster), to the soulful whistle melody on the heart string pulling walkin’ away the music matches the moods brilliantly.

add to this the multi-layered thug free lyrical content that brother ali has put his heart and soul into, tackling usa government heaviness, (united snakes could indeed become my de facto phrase for 2007), long term relationship breakdown, parental guilt and everything in between, with a flow thats both listenable, and in places very melodic.

for once, a single artist hip hop album that actually welcomes a one sit through listen, in fact if you have the time, make it 3 in a row and you’ll be nodding your head in sheer pleasure.