Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color

by Brother Ali

I admire Brother Ali in a way that I don't any other rapper.  He has a truthfulness to him that bars him from fronting or exaggerating on his songs, which are always intensely personal.

When other rappers talk about themselves, there is often a question about whether or not they are really speaking truth.  I'm not referring to the mainstream rappers - we know they're full of crap - but even of artists like POS and Slug (keeping with the Minneapolis theme for a minute), who also rap from the heart, but have created a bit of a persona for themselves (okay, maybe not Stef; he's probably on the same level as Ali, but anyway).  Brother Ali speaks straight from his soul, and uses his music to continually open and re-examine old wounds, for the betterment of us all.

Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, his excellent new album, opens with 'Letter to my Countrymen', a plea for increased political action and thought among the masses.  This piece ends with a message from Cornel West, which is always nice.

On 'Stop the Press', Ali gives us the musical equivalent of a Christmas card letter, updating everyone on everything that's happened in his life since his last album, including the loss of his father to suicide, and the problems he's had motivating himself to write and record.  It's a perfect example of how Ali works - a song that exposes great woe, but which remains ultimately triumphant and upbeat.

When I heard that Ali wasn't going to be working with Ant, his long-time producer, for this album, I was worried that it wouldn't hold up well with the rest of his catalogue, but Jake One has figured out what Ali works best with, and provided it to him on almost every track.  This album is as good as, or better than, any that Ali has finished before.

Born Like This

by DOOM

I'm not sure how to approach this album, which is the reason why I haven't attempted to write about it before now. I bought this when it first came out, played the hell out of it for a few days, and then promptly forgot it. Doom's first album in years could have easily dropped in 2004. Aside from a very ill-advised autotune hook (on 'Supervillainz'), there is nothing on this disc to show that time has moved forward.

Doom is spitting the same fire he always does, except now it seems like his flow has become monotonous, and his puerile jokes even more puerile and inconsequential (I'm looking at you 'Batty Boyz').

Beat-wise, there's not a lot to be excited about either. There are a few recycled beats ('Lightworks' always sounds good, but again, it's 2009; 'That's That' uses a favourite Special Herb, and 'Angelz' was like my favourite song of whatever year it first came out), and others that just sound like the standard Doom fare. Jake One understands Doom's aesthetic, and provides four decent tracks, although I like Madlib's better. The villain rounds out the production himself, except for one other Dilla joint.

The thing about this album is that individually, many of the songs are very strong. Arranged together, as they are here, they tend to cancel one another out, and become a little boring.

In terms of guest shots, Raekwon and Slug both provide killer verses, although Slug gets a little drowned out in the mediocrity of the people he shares his track with (who the hell is Mobonix? The Lego Moby?). I was hoping for a lot more from this album, but then, I think that's how people generally feel about Doom these days, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I will give full props to whoever designed the album art. It's clearly the same people who do work for Jneiro Jarel, and it looks great.

White Van Music

by Jake One
Jake One first caught my attention with his beats on De La Soul's 'The Grind Date', and I started noticing his name popping up from time to time in different liner notes. He didn't have an immediately recognizable sound, but he did make nice beats. When I heard that Rhymesayers was releasing his first solo album, and I saw who would be featured on it, I figured it was a safe purchase.

This is a good album, and I think could have been a great album, had a few songs been trimmed off of it. Now, this becomes a matter of personal bias, as it is the more mainstream songs featuring artists like Freeway, Young Buck, Evidence, Prodigy, Alchemist, and MOP that I would lose.

The tracks that feature more underground artists are what kept this in my car for so long. Little Brother has a nice track on here, as do Elzhi & Royce Da 5'9", Blueprint, and Black Milk & Nottz. Among the best tracks is 'The Truth', with Freeway and Brother Ali - a strange pairing for sure, but one that works exceptionally well. Posdnuos and Slug record 'Oh Really', another fantastic track, and another unusual partnership. These two songs together remind me a little of that "Think Differently" project of a couple of years back.

Of course, the big draw of the album are the two tracks featuring MF Doom. He still comes correct, and spits in his usual eccentric style. It's nice to see that the man is still recording.

As for Jake One's beats - they are consistently good throughout the album, and he shows a lot of promise for both underground and mainstream appeal. This album comes with an instrumental disk.