Review: Brother Ali “Shadows on the Sun”

Brother Ali
“Shadows on the Sun”
(Rhymesayers)

Hes albino and overweight, Brother Ali brags on his latest album Shadows on the Sun. But the beautiful truth is that Brother Ali doesnt care. Ater a little hiatus the mighty Rhymesayers label hasreleased another album to their credit. Slug, who has become the record labels poster boy has stolen much of the spotlight, but his hip hop partner in crime from the Twin Cities lets his voice be heard loud and clearly over finely tuned beats. Some might be set back by his over usage of political wordplay and deep religious messages, but let us not forget that Brother Ali is a born again Muslim. A lot of Alis messages can be compared closely to the radical East Coast duo Dead Prez or even old school Public Enemy sounds. The ironic part of it is Im not trying to scare these kids, just trying to connect them to the heritage, Ali quips on Pay Them Back, one of! the albums best tracks. The talented emcee does a superb job at mixing up his rhyme style on basically every song. Listen to the tracks Star Quality and Missing Teeth to understand what I mean. Brother Ali can flat out rhyme. Some may even have a good argument that he surpasses the Atmosphere front man. One thing is definite. This is easily the best produced Rhymesayers album thanks to producer Ant. Although his last album Rites of Passage was overlooked by critics and fans alike , Shadows on the Sun proves that Brother Ali is one of Minnesotas proudest voices.

Hitboy