Brother Ali + Abstract Rude - Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA; Mar. 28, 2008)

Brother Ali Drops All the Elements on Boston

If you are reading this review of Brother Ali, then you are probably well-aware of the four classic elements of hip-hop; DJing, MCing, B-Boying, and graffiti writing. In that same regard, I present to you the five elements of a great hip-hop show: Block Rockin’, Beat Poppin’, Smack Talkin’, Booty Knockin’ and Non-Stoppin’. Let’s see how our Brother man handled the five elements at the Middle East Downstairs.

Block Rockin’ (Getting the whole room to represent with mad energy). No other genre of live music demands more from the audience than hip-hop, and a great MC has to rock the whole room to make it work. Brother Ali brought the noise from straight out the gate with “Whatcha’ Got,” the first joint on his newest album The Undisputed Truth. The room was amped, packed front to back and letting him know it. All Brother Ali had to do to get everyone bumpin’ was spit the song, no encouragement needed. There’s nothing wrong with telling a hip-hop crowd to get their hands up, that’s classic hip-hop, but there’s something to be said about the MC who gets the whole room going without actually telling them to. Brother Ali and backup man Toki Wright exhibited a powerful unspoken control over the audience all night. No doubt about this one: the block was rocked.

Beat Poppin’ (Dropping sick beats and segues to keep the party steady trippin’). True, Brother Ali has his name on the bill, but let’s face it; any MC is only as good as the DJ behind him. Big ups to DJ BK-One for dropping ill segues all night. BK-One started the night spinning for fellow Rhymesayers artists Toki Wright and Abstract Rude. After Abstract Rude finished, BK-One kept on hitting it with a bass-pounding, twenty-minute mix that had the place in full party mode and foaming at the mouth for the arrival of Brother Ali. A classic mashup of “What’s My Name” > “Shimmy Ya” > “Sound of Da Police” > “Hypnotize” had the place bumping hard enough to justify the price of admission even without a bigtime MC about to come on. Throughout the rest of the show, Brother Ali’s beats were fused together seamlessly, usually 3-4 songs at a time. That’s how it’s done.

Smack Talkin’ (Highlighting key written lines to get a response from the crowd, and making the most of spoken word breaks). At some point in the show, every MC stops the music and talks. It’s usually a chance for everyone to cool out, and in the end is a forgotten part of the show. That’s fine. But a great MC will actually use this time to make the show even better. Abstract Rude had dropped a nice spoken-word slam segment on everyone during his opening act, but Brother Ali was up to the challenge. After finishing his first three-song segue with a massive throwdown on Undisputed Truth’s title track “Truth Is,” Brother Ali gave a mini-sermon about mainstream hip-hop before dropping his own slam segment that drew a rousing ovation and actually raised the energy in the room without any beats going. That’s not easy to do. Brother Ali toed the line on his mainstream radio stance, expressing his general disdain for sellout rappers but naming several mainstream rappers that he holds much love and respect for. Maybe some would have liked a more all-out take on this essential hip-hop issue, perhaps some gall to dis a bigtime MC. Personally, I related to his view, and he came across as less preachy and more sincere than a lot of MCs do when they talk about this matter.

Booty Knockin’ (Mixing in some soulful words, singing, or whatever it takes to get the crowd to practically start getting their freak on right there on the dance floor). At a lot of great hip-hop shows, everyone just starts grinding, strangers everywhere are eyeing each other, and there’s crazy tension in the air. This is the one element of the five that just isn’t in Brother Ali’s wheelhouse. His songs all rocked, but they all rocked in the same party-thumping way. Not a ton of dynamic variety, but he sticks to what he does well, and what he does well he does really well, so fuck it. Besides, I’m not sure I could take him seriously doing get-your-freak-on joints. I just couldn’t.

Non-Stoppin’ (Coming out on stage like the green room was on fire and never letting up. No letdown between songs. Building it up all night, start to finish). You’ve been to those hip-hop shows where it seems like the MC needs five minutes to catch his breath in between songs and he talks on and on about nothing, there are no song segues, the DJ isn’t working it, there is more time in between songs than the actual songs themselves, and you watch them go through the motions in the middle of the show on songs they obviously don’t like as much while they wait to close with the hot single. Brother Ali stomps all over these sucka MCs. The opening 3-song montage lasted over ten minutes, then next thing you know he’s working hard on spoken word before dropping another four-song mashup finishing with another hot new tune, “Uncle Sam Goddam.” This man oozes energy from every pore the whole time he is on stage. Toki Wright also did a great job constantly flying around the stage behind Brother Ali, pumping people up, and nearly jumping through the roof when big beats dropped. There was no discernable energy drop at any point of the show, and the crowd responded in glee. From my perch on the side tier that was a few feet higher than the main floor, it looked like not a single person in the first 15 rows shifted from the start of the show to the end.  That’s when you know your show is hot.

Brother Ali brings huge rhymes and a huge presence to the stage. You’ve got to admire any pudgy Albino guy from Minnesota who makes a name for himself in hip-hop. However, when you take away Brother Ali’s unique background, you’re left with a unique voice, speaking intelligence and believability via some seriously dope rhymes. And a presence that lights up a club purely on attitude, and doesn’t ever let up. Truth be told, this show was one block rockin’ beat poppin’ smack talkin’ non-stoppin’ real hip-hoppin’ throwdown from Brother Ali, from the other Rhymesayers artists, and from the top-notch Boston crowd. 

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