Why internet feedback is so incredibly awesome...
HarveyCanal
"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
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To the online edition of this review:unbelievable by guest | hide/show Robert Gabrial's does not deserve to have his ears blessed with the art that Brother Ali creates. Obviously, he cannot escape the box that he lives in long enough to see the truth which is so relevant to the world that we live in today and so prevalent in this album. I'm am positive that he did not take the time to feel the emotion and passion that is being expressed throughout this gem of an album. He is probably some right-wing, ignorant pacifist (which is probably why he is stuck reviewing music at austinchronical.com). I'm sure this guy is just scared to listen to something that would probably change his life because then he would have to look at himself without trying to something that he's not...real. 04-09-2007
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=456287Brother AliThe Undisputed Truth (Rhymesayers)So many years removed from the genesis of hip-hop culture in the Boogie Down Bronx, it's a wonder that anyone still tries to rationalize its explosion as some sort of deliberate advancement of a stringently defined discipline. It's not that a current MC like Minneapolis' Brother Ali should be slighted for taking hip-hop as such a literal set of rules and regulations. It's that those confines leave little room for anything we haven't already heard a million times before. Brother Ali obviously sports an adept vocal instrument, and he's got songs such as "Lookin' at Me Sideways" to prove it. Yet all too often, his voice/accent/rhyming patterns suffer from too much rehashed facsimile of past rap glories. As Ant's production more or less keeps things interesting over the course of The Undisputed Truth, Brother Ali barely avoids credit as a Frisbee manufacturer. (Friday, March 16, Emo's Main Room, 10:15pm) ** (2 stars out of 5)
Comments
you're wrong
nah i'm playing i haven't actually heard the brother ali yet
Right here...
I am wrong...he should be slighted.
Make this your location or you're soft!
Seriously, though, "you hated on it because you're too stupid to understand its brilliance, which only really, really good fans like me get" is probably my favorite type of angry feedback to a critic/reviewer. It's like writing a response and then parodying that response at the same time.
How many right wingers do you know that are pacifists?
this from the dude who lives by rules of realness...!
My only rule:[/b]
Be yourself.
My assumption of Brother Ali's rules:[/b]
Respect the architect.
Sampling trumps keyboard beats.
Contrived positivity trumps simply not giving a fuck.
Stand near a breakdancer in action whenever possible.
DJ's make the world go round.
Only certain NYC-derived accents apply.
Always insubordinate yourself to the past.
The revolution will be accompanied by scratch-in hooks.
Do not wear anything not featured in an XXL advertisement.
Rhythmically scream on anything that doesn't openly abide to each and every one of these rules.
Etc.
I'll move there.
how do you get this from listening to him? these are huge assumptions based on what i've heard of the dude's style.
seriously, what are you basing this bullshit on?
i could make a huge list of stereotypes about houston rappers that would be equally corny
let it go deej, you'll be better for it.
This is bogus.
This is a little bit of credibility isn't it?
As long as you keep a safe distance from "form over substance" microwave kids, I think you'll be able to enjoy Brother Ali. Shit sounds mad fresh right about now.
Didn't you write under the name Rasheid for a while? Is this a learn from your mistakes sort of thing?
"One of the first great voices to emerge from the underground this century"
Pitchfork Media[/b]
The revolution will not be televised on beats sounding like that
Ant dropped the ball on this one
Shied is? I couldn't agree more...
Not even Nathan Rabin could make that site more embarrassing.
I even relistened to the cd the other night and just might have liked it LESS than I did when I originally reviewed it.
Anybody here into Brother Ali as much as these dudes?
^^^Brother Ali pulls a rashied!
harvey, you and ali are closer than you know
I don't have time right now to watch the full 5 minutes of the interview...so please let me know what you are considering as "pulling a rashied."
Whatever...for me, that issue is so over 10 years ago.
And the only person I've actually ever known to confuse me as black was a black girl who lived on my floor in the dorm my freshman year who swore I was mixed since I apprently looked just like some of her mixed cousins.
Again, whatever.
That is more believable than anyone ever in a million years looking at Brother Ali and thinking that he was of African descent.
But not by very much.
My maternal grandmother is a very darkly complected Italian, which implies that there is some African blood in our family tree somewhere.
Try to get her to admit that though...