But anyway, this week's Heavy Rotation is an undiscovered gem, a sweet funky groove from one of my favourite MC's, Brother Ali. Any festival heads probably caught Atmosphere and Brother Ali at Falls Festival over NYE, an apparently they ripped it down once again (not surprisingly).
This funky little number is a bonus cut from The Truth EP, so most people missed it, making it even more delicious for those who picked up on it (no non-delicious filler around here, only chocolate filled goodness). I'm way into the funky piano at the moment, so Ant is (once again) hitting all the right buttons with the smooth bass and tinkly piano styles on this one, and the Brother comes through again with an impeccable flow, and some heartfelt lyrics. Ali is usually on the positive tip, but he's way into the happy-to-be-alive thing on Good Lord. Not surprising, considering the shit he's been through, he probably is happy to be alive.
But onto the dissection.
Good Lord is an obvious statement of Ali's beliefs, and how they have affected his life. From the opening line of "best believe the Q'uran influenced all of my songs...", Ali makes no bones about where he stands religiously, however my favourite thing about Ali is I never feel like he's preaching, more explaining and celebrating how his religion has influenced him throughout his life. The discussion and religious references continue throughout the first verse, with Ali mantioning the effect that his religion has had on his fans, as well as namechecking numerous prophets and Islamic figures, including Bilal ibn Rabah with a tight couplet:
"Holler like Bilal in the tower,
Hayya 'alal-falah, Allah is the power"
(for those who don't know, Bilal ibn Rabah was the first official muezzin of the Islamic faith, known for his beautiful voice with which he called the people to their prayers. Step your 7th century muezzin game up, y'all.)
Ali then closes the verse out with a typically juxtaposed line,
"Laying in the alley I whisper the Shahada (The Shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as his prophet),
The bullets fly by from the drive by."
And then a fantasy of what might be called a black paradise, but is really closer to a celebration of pinnacles of black history and culture. Admittedly a bit strange from an Albino guy from Minnesota, but he has addressed the reasons for his Pro-Blackness in many a track, and that's really a discussion for another day.
"Imam Mohammad used to pound on the podium,
Popmaster Fable worked it out on the linoleum.
Chappelle busts funnies, Mos Def busts rhymes,
and Muhammad Ali is the greatest of all time."
It's really in the second verse that Ali gets on the pro-life tip, and I don't mean any anti-abortion talk. This is emo-rap at it's best, or possibly worst. If Ali didn't have swagger like a pirate, this verse would be dangerously close to waaaaay too soft for my liking. I don't need guns and bitches in every verse, but I like a little backbone to whatever i'm hearing.
"Something spiritual happens when the hands get to clapping,
can you tell me what religion do you laugh in?
The human reaction of smiles and cries,
What language are the tears when they're falling from your eyes?"
Again, great lyrics, don't get me wrong, and I think this verse was very deliberately structured to be humanity based, rather than religion based, as there's a real "I am Human, and so are you" vibe about this verse.
"You've probably seen the sun rise hundreds of times.
But let a painter paint it or a poet describe,
the very moment where heaven and earth might collide,
and god let the breath of life come outside.
Satan doubted it, angels bow to it,
I'm so beautifully human and i'm proud of it.
Soul of a soldier, heart of a scholar,
I wrote this poem with the blood of a martyr."
A tight 16 bars, closed out with a callback to the first verse dismount, and the chorus kicks in to take it all home. Flow like Niagara.
All in all, this track will remain heavy in my Iriver for a while, there's better Brother Ali tracks out there, but this jam puts me in a good mood for the day, and it's a banger to throw on when you're headed home from work and need a lift after a shitty day.
Enjoy the track, and be sure to cop as much Brother Ali as you can. Support the artists doing their thing kids, otherwise we'll have to listen to Nickelback all day.
Grab that bad boy RIGHT HERE
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