Rhymesayers
2009
Us
About This Album
While hip-hop struggles to redefine itself after years of standing on the precipice of self-parody, experimenting with pop, electronica, and dance, Brother Ali continues to remind listeners what's so good about the pure form: the stories, the intricate sentences, the wordplay, the rhymes (and Rhymesayers bigshot Ant shows how good production not based on samples can be). Us, the rapper's third full-length, is a strong record that emphasizes the substance and power of the genre, the message and the ability to convey it his most important tasks. Ali is, above all, a storyteller, hell-bent on making his characters as believable as possible, and he does so with an amazing amount of empathy. While there is an unfortunate hypocrisy in the hip-hop world to speak of freedom and equality while also ignoring or perpetuating other stereotypes and intolerances, Ali is unafraid to defend all marginalized groups. Inner-city kids, abused women, his fans, his family, kids growing up in broken homes, minorities, and, most distinguishably, gays and lesbians, all find themselves with a well-spoken defender and supporter ("'Cause there ain't no flame that blaze enough/To trump being hated for the way you love," he says in "Tight Rope").
Track List (try tracks 2,3,6,8,9,11 and 16)

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