Brother Ali
All the Beauty in This Whole Life

Album Release Date: May 5th, 2017

Given the political climate in Trump's America, many artists—particularly HipHop artists—have been outspoken in their art against the outrageously corrupt establishment. Brother Ali's All the Beauty in This Whole Life is certainly applicable in this respect, although Trump isn't once mentioned by name. The LP instead focuses on concepts of love, striving to come to peace with oneself, and overcoming fear and the world's oppressive forces. Without one "curse" word on the whole album, Ali offers a slyly subversive perspective that ultimately registers as positive and uplifting more than loud and angry. With spiritual themes and an overall mellow vibe, the album tackles the problems of our time in ways as equally relevant as more overt politically rebellious art works. In this sense it's a breath of fresh air, qualifying as a great summer soundtrack and one of 2017's best releases.

The music is beautiful. Producer Anthony Davis—better known as Ant (one half of Brother Ali's labelmates Atmosphere)—provides a soulful soundscape of laid-back, head-nodding grooves and emotionally resonant melodic phrases of ethereal majesty, complementing the sensitivity and thoughtfulness expressed in the lyrics. All the Beauty is Ali's first album in five years, following 2012's Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color which was a departure from Ant's beats with Jake One helming that project instead. Ant has now produced four of Brother Ali's six LPs (and a couple of Ali's EPs), and his return to the partnership here reaffirms his status as one of the best HipHop producers and beatmakers out there, and Brother Ali one of the best rappers, as the contributions of each correspond with ease. They remind us that Rhymesayers Entertainment is a great independent record label; while flagship group Atmosphere may rule the Minneapolis/Midwest HipHop scene, Brother Ali is a significant ingredient in that community's success.

Ali has long been one of the funkiest MCs around, with energetic, swinging vocal stylings backed by soul- and funk-sampled beat composition. He was never strictly a rowdy rapper overall, but the hype qualities he sometimes exhibited in past works are reduced here in exchange for milder, downtempo flows. This might be a result of recent vocal chord issues, as Ali claimed he’d damaged his voice due to overuse from excessive touring/performing, and had been suffering physically. I attended two Brother Ali concerts (in 2014 and 2016) where he seemed tired and a little restrained compared to the few previous times I'd seen him when he'd given his all. He addressed it at the 2016 show (opening for Atmosphere at The Commodore in Vancouver), telling the audience that he needed throat surgery. There was an undertone of uncertainty about his professional future, so I was glad to hear Ali was back with this LP. I don't know if he got the surgery and it worked, or if he healed by other means, but there are no hints of voice troubles except for fewer uptempo numbers. In any case, he sounds great and the album is awesome.

Religious themes emerge throughout fifteen engaging tracks that alternately evoke solemnity and optimism. Not self-righteous and preachy so much as authentically righteous and preaching, Brother Ali's whole vibe and worldview is founded in kindness and creativity. Opener "Pen to Paper", a meditation on the creative process, is a single two-and-half-minute verse of wicked lines like "This is more than music to me / This is ancestors speakin' through me at the tomb of Rumi". Various topics are explored: "Dear Black Son" is a heartfelt expression of fatherly love underlined by antiracism sentiments, "Out of Here" is a somber rumination on death and suicide, "Before They Called You White" condemns colonialism, racism, and police violence, and "Uncle Usi Taught Me" details Ali's detainment by airport security due to his politics and Muslim faith.

Brother Ali never shies away from expressing pointed political beliefs while simultaneously describing his own personal struggles. Born Jason Newman with the condition albinism which results in a lack of pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes, and renders him legally blind, Ali opens up with an intimacy exemplified by artists at their bravest. Sometimes humourously self-deprecating, he also earnestly conveys the challenges of the discrimination he's faced; in "Pray for Me" he recounts his experience being bullied while growing up albino. Rather than playing the victim, Ali maintains positivity as his stories of overcoming hardship merge inextricably with his talent and image. He turns his biggest challenges into success, skillfully positioning himself as the unlikely hero of an underdog narrative.

The spiritual, feel-good song "Own Light (What Hearts Are For)" espouses a philosophy of love and compassion as the antidote to fear and hate. It epitomizes the album's thesis, with lines like "You're not using your heart for / What hearts are for". Regardless of one's religious or nonreligious orientation, it's hard to not identify with Ali's sentiments here: "I'm animated by love, I don't move by chance / Any stage I touch or any place I stand, there y'all land / Livin' in the world as it is, cracked vessel I am / No more and no less than a man / Any po-sessions that I have are just in my hand / I'm balancing the best that I can / I'm not making no claims, but / I'm using my heart for what hearts are for".

Among All the Beauty's several focal points, most prominent is the correlation between god-love, self-love, and love for others, coupled with Ali's demonstration of emotional vulnerability. The closing title track "All the Beauty in This Whole Life" essentially plays as a prayer, a HipHop hymn: "All the beauty in this whole life / Is reflecting your light / Cool tears obscure my sight / It's the only way I see you right". With this, one of Brother Ali's best albums, he indeed shows us all the beauty in this whole life is reflected in his songs.
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
June 4th, 2017