Brother Ali is a Muslim rapper, with albinism, from Minneapolis, who since releasing his debut LP, Rites of Passage, in 2000 has issued four full-length albums and four EPs. In his first new song since 2012’s Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, Brother Ali has chronicled his life story on “Pen to Paper”.
The video directed by Maria Juranic’s video begins as the camera slowly zooms down a hallway and into Ali’s face. As Brother Ali chronicles his life and career he begins to recount the escapism of writing lyrics as a child:
“Put pen to paper the first time when I was barely eight or maybe nine/ That was the late Eighties, Reagan time,” he rhymes with a commanding flow over stark piano and horns. “The entire landscape of that blank page was mine/ Create a space to climb inside, escape the crazy times.”
Brother Ali’s new song shows what an underground powerhouse rapper he continues to be as a crucial part of Atmosphere’s Rhymesayers crew. Listen to the piano-fueled track below:
The Rhymesayers artist’s upcoming album All The Beauty In This Whole Life has a release date of May 5th 2017 and in an interview last year Brother Ali said of the direction of the ablum:
“It has a lot to do with how we can get our hearts right and how to be bonded and to be connected to each other in really genuine ways,” he continues. “I’m not claiming to have the answers. But a lot of people rap about what their aspirations are. Some people might rap about, ‘I want to get my mom a house.’ You might not have done it yet, but a lot of times we make art about what we’re dreaming about. I’m not saying I have the answers, but that’s just what’s really motivating me right now and that’s what the music is mostly about.”
All The Beauty In This Whole Life Tracklist
1. Pen To Paper (feat. Amir Sulaiman)
2. Own Light (What Hearts Are For)
3. Special Effects (feat. deM atlaS)
4. Can’t Take That Away
5. Dear Black Son
6. We Got This (feat. Sa-Roc)
7. Uncle Usi Taught Me
8. Pray For Me
9. It Ain’t Easy
10. Never Learn
11. Tremble
12. Before They Called You White
13. The Bitten Apple (feat. Idris Philips)
14. Out Of Here
15. All The Beauty In This Whole Life
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