Brother Ali sheds light on his South By Southwest week:
“My son woke up the day I was supposed to fly to Austin and he thought I was leaving for tour that day and he didn’t want me to go. I got up with plenty of time to catch the plane – we had a really early flight. I woke up to pee and that’s when he woke up. Then I got all the way to the airport and my wife called and said, ‘Your wallet is on the kitchen table.’ I ended up having to fly to Houston and then rent a car to drive to Austin. I got there right before I was supposed to go on. We played six or seven times down there and it was great. It’s always cool every time you go down there, but it’s so costly to do it and I can’t really afford to do it, but it was great. I was really able to do a lot and it was exciting because it felt like people were really getting it. I truly love what I do. I love performing. I like working so it was pretty fuckin’ cool. And I actually got to see a couple of shows. I usually don’t get to see anyone when I’m down there. I saw The Gossip. I’d never heard of them before and as soon as they started playing, I was like, ‘This girl’s preachin’. They went on and on. Then that fuckin’ dress came off. They were great. And I got to see Rakin play with a full band and with Ghostface. I did a tour with him so that was great too.”

Ali came to Big Orange right after Sondre Lerche recorded with us at Big Orange Studio in Austin on March 15th. At the conclusion of his set, his friend Pigeon John stopped by to say hello as 31 Knots were arriving for their 9 p.m. session time.

First song
Uncle Sam Goddamn (Brother Ali) [3.72MB] [1848 downloads]


– original version appears on The Undisputed Truth
It’s about the hypocrisy of America. It came about because for the last few years we’ve had patriotism shoved down our throats. We’re told that it’s the greatest country in the world. I’m not saying it’s all bad, but a lot of times all these beautiful words don’t fit. It’s the richest country in the world and it was made that way because of slaves.

Second song
Original King Rework (Brother Ali) [2.91MB] [1654 downloads]


– unreleased
It’s a classic, asserting my MC superiority song. That’s about it.

Third song
Walking Away (Brother Ali) [3.64MB] [1729 downloads]


– original version appears on The Undisputed Truth
This song’s about ending a really long marriage. After years of trying to make it work, you get to that point where you just realize that it’s not possible. You realize that nothing’s going to save this thing. It’s like a switch was flipped on. It is autobiographical. I was married when I was 17 to someone I’d only know for a couple of months and we had a son. I was married to her until I was 26. It was really tough, but I kind of hit a point. There was a lot of anger and there was a lot of desperation leading up to that.

Fourth song
Truth Is (Brother Ali) [3.56MB] [1687 downloads]


– original version appears on The Undisputed Truth
It’s kind of my manifesto. It’s how I feel music should be. It’s kind of meant to be a revolution song. Hip-hop for a long time was a voice for the feeling inside of people. There’s always been an underground that’s stayed like that, but it’s different now. The companies have stepped in so now everybody’s acting. This is real people. We need people to be real people. In most hip-hop now, it’s all just exaggerated cars and exaggerated sex that’s not realistic. These people are lying and acting. The best topic to ever rap about is crime and black power. You know Ice-T did those things. You feel like you’re riding in the car with him.