Brother Ali
Words: Katie Boatman
Photos: Ksenia Stillwell

Appeared:
May 11, 2007
The Social, Orlando

“The Truth is here”

So, you have to get metal-detected before you can go into the show. No worries, Brother Ali is worth it, and with people poppin’ caps in one another on the regular this slight inconvenience is fine with me.

Toki Wright, an up-and-coming MC, opened the show with his lyrical stylings. The crowd rushed the stage for the opening act with the same intensity and wonderment as for Brother Ali - this is a little different than the Tampa scene. The other opener was pretty basic: Psalm 1, an female MC who didn’t keep my attention for more than about eight bars.

After wandering the club for several hours, searching for a less smoky area and bouncing to DJ BK-One, I realized something: Brother Ali was making us wait… but the wait was all worth it. He hit the stage with all the passion and honesty that “booms” from his records. Performing songs like “Forest Whitaker” and “Rain Water,” Ali preached about liking yourself no matter how ugly you are. He gave his fans their money’s worth with a five-song encore and an hour-and-a-half meet-and-greet session after the show. I happily waited my turn to get a few minutes with the man behind the red eyes and creamy white skin.

Brother Ali sat down with me and talked to me briefly about his loyalty to RhymeSayers Entertainment, explaining that leaving them for a major label would be like divorcing his parents. He also told me that lately he’s been listening to a lot of John Legend and ritualistically bumping Curtis Mayfield. I asked him if the song “Dorian,” in which he beats up a wife-beater only to have the cops called on him by the beater’s wife, is true. He swears this song is the truth, just like every single word that he says.  Brother Ali brings respect, compassion and honesty to a hip-hop image like nothing I’ve ever seen… and he makes it cool.
To quote the man himself, “The Truth is here.”