Since he last released an album, Brother Ali has been praying, writing, and studying, building up his faith and a library of brand-new songs. The result, 15-track project All the Beauty in This Whole Life, drops today. To celebrate, the Rhymesayers mainstay stopped into the studios to perform "Own Light," "Out Of Here," and "It Ain't Easy," sharing anecdotes and insight between songs.

A lot has happened in the five years since Brother Ali released Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, and many fans expected him to come back with a roaring, explicitly political collection of conscious hip-hop. Instead, light suffuses the album, which centers on peace and personal happenings (Ali does point out that indirectly, it still is "a commentary on the state of [...] affairs").

For the first time since Us in 2009, Ant of Atmosphere produced all the album's beats. He and Ali live four blocks from each other in South Minneapolis, but they happened to reconnect while spending time in the Bay Area. For this album, Ali says, "I knew that it had to be Anthony."

Check out the full session for stories about relationships, Soundset, and a particularly difficult song on the album.

Songs Performed

"Own Light"
"Out Of Here"
"It Ain't Easy"

All songs from Brother Ali's 2017 release, All the Beauty in This Whole Life, available via Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Hosted by Mark Wheat
Produced by Lindsay Kimball
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Cecilia Johnson

Resources

Brother Ali - official Rhymesayers page

Gallery

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