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Brother Ali invites a 'group experience' at the Picador

By Steven Horowtiz

Brother Ali commands attention. Not just because he is a big man with striking albino features, but also because of the rapper’s intelligence and verbal creativity.

Speaking over the telephone from his Minneapolis home, Ali reflects on what makes his work special. He claims part of this is due to his Midwestern background.

“Because Hollywood is not here and the big entertainment machine is not here, we bring ourselves as people to the table,” Ali says. “We deal with each other on a one-to-one level. You don’t exaggerate, but just tell it as it is.”

On his three discs, Ali raps about what it was like to be a have-not in a society that preaches the American dream. He talks about his wife, the pain of divorce and his love for his child, with little of the hype that comes from coastal rappers and much that is straight autobiography.

“If you look at look at the most successful hip hop artists from the Midwest, like Eminem, Kanye West and Common, you see that they all share one theme. They write about their lives and their families, their thoughts and their feelings,” Ali points out.

This doesn’t mean this type of music isn’t political, but that it comes from a more personal perspective.

“I don’t talk about specific political things, like the election or the overall history of the country,” Ali says. “My raps touch on the difference between how people live and what America is supposed to be, and how people that live on the other side of life, like I did, don’t have a chance of ever achieving that dream.”

But this posturing has caused Ali some problems: he says he has been investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ali was touring Australia with his DJ BK-One and backup rapper Toki Wright, who will also be performing with him at his March 1 appearance at the Picador in Iowa City. Their promoter had to wire them money for expenses last year when the government froze their funds.

“We had to report what we were doing, give our Social Security numbers, and provide our addresses because they wanted to be sure we weren’t engaged in terrorist activities,” Ali says.

Some of the concern may have been the result of the controversy concerning his song “Uncle Sam Goddamn,” which prompted a national advertiser to back out of promoting Ali’s tour. Some of the more critical lines of the song explicitly address where tax money was being spent, our heritage of slavery and the power of the government over individual liberty.

Ali’s proud of his songs and longs for the good old days when most rap music dealt with concerns about daily life. He notes there is now a special police task force in New York City to investigate hip hop. At one time, the powers that be feared what rappers would say but this new task force concentrates on the relationship between rappers and crimes like drug offenses.

“The police are more concerned about rappers and steroids--or maybe gun offenses--than what the songs are about," Ali says.

That doesn’t mean the rapper has lost faith in the power of hip hop. Just the opposite is true. The born Christian turned Muslim believes the reason people attend concerts is the same reason why people used to go to church.

“We need to have group experiences,” Ali says. “Everything we do is so individual. We listen to iPods. Families don’t eat meals together. We don’t even go to movies as a group—and if we do we are told to shut up and watch the movie. That’s why we need shows to connect to each other the way people used to, and pray and hear sermons together. It’s a powerful thing.”

That’s the effect he aims to create at his concerts.

“I am a Muslim because it is a way for me to be a whole human being, but I don’t judge others or expect them to follow my way,” Ali says. “Christianity taught me that I was sinful, and I turned away from that. If people want to grab a beer and a smoke and come to me show, that’s okay. I don’t do it. But people need to do what they believe is right for themselves.”

And Ali’s goal is for individuals to join together and have a good time when they come to hear him perform.