Brother Ali: The Undisputed Truth

For The Fan Presents:

Brother Ali: The Undisputed Truth (2007) Review

Follow Us Twitter

@4thefan

@4thefanmovies

Artist: Brother Ali

Album: The Undisputed Truth

Release Date: 2007

Label: Rhymesayers Entertainment

Genre: Hip Hop

I have a hard time not talking about Brother Ali with the most notable fact about the rapper and that’s the fact that he’s made a name for himself and his style of hip hop in a culture that doesn’t always open up to white rappers. Now, before you throw the notion aside, consider the fact that he suffers from albinism. Even though the rapper rails against the notion of race and his skin color, it’s one of the most significant things people notice when they see a picture of him.

So much so that in Santa Monica California, I swear I rode the bus with this man. Perhaps I am wrong, but when you are perpetually without a car, you start to remember faces and places, and well Brother Ali and I shared a moment, even if it wasn’t directly related to his music. I didn’t learn about his work until I was in Seattle and went through a shift in musical learning.

Sometimes I forget that I’m review records, and so I’ll apologize for the long winded introduction and get to “The Undisputed Truth”, which is one of the best independent records to come out in the past decade. The beats are produced by famed producer Ant and you get a feel for the style that Brother Ali prefers. He rhymes fast and easy through a lot of different topics, mainly trying to defy the ordinary subject matter that some people may attribute to music. This is not a recording that has a lot of boisterous flows about how the MC is the king of rap, or excessive use profanity for no apparent reason.

Now, before you think that this is a religious record, it’s important to understand that the positivity found here is not related to religious sectors like some other rappers like Lecrae. Brother Ali is in fact Muslim and makes references to his faith but not as a focal point of the message that he’s throwing out. He’s trying to interject into a culture that often times talks about nonsense and stupidity over educational, social justice leanings.

Tracks like “Truth Is”, “Uncle Sam Goddamn”, “Daylight”, and “Here”, all showcase the diversity that this MC has with throwing rhymes together over heavy bass lines, samples of iconic records from the past and organic beats that make this an incredible release from the prolific poet. Upon release in 2007 it sold 11,000 records in the first week, and that’s a huge thing for a guy that doesn’t have any sort of radio airplay, or big names to push him. Heck, the guy didn’t have a media frenzy praising him for “secretly” releasing a record without telling anyone, but I’ll digress.

Brother Ali throws out 61 minutes of music on this record and is 100 times better than anything the mainstream put out this year in terms of hip hop. Go back and listen to this one and pay attention to the way this very talented hip hop artist creates lavish English rhyming schemes over beautiful beats that mix jazz, rock, and social justice speakers with such simplicity.

Pros: Eclectic Rhyming, Bass Heavy Rhythm, Socially Conscious

Cons: No sign of Drake or Beyoncé…just kidding, there’s no cons

Rating: 10/10

Links:

CD: http://amzn.to/1dKqeMb

Mp3 Download: http://amzn.to/1bO0GOs

Vinyl: http://amzn.to/1dKqeMb

Video: Uncle Sam Goddamn Official Music Video

Written by Sir Jorge