The Undisputed Truth by Brother Ali

This will sound very familiar but I'll say it anyway. When I first heard this CD, I hated it. Every other word was a swear word and it seemed to me so loud and angry. After I listened to about 3 songs, I couldn't continue listening. A coworker of mine convinced me to keep listening, that I might find something I liked or at least could tolerate. It took me a couple of weeks before I could pick it up again and I thought I will just listen to it all the way through then make my judgments. I listened to it and found that I really liked the melodies he had underneath (behind? I am not sure of how to describe it) his raps. I still haven't really listed to the words that he is saying but every once in awhile I will catch something that intrigues me.

He has had quite a life. Just a little background, Brother Ali is a rapper from Minneapolis. He is Caucasian, an albino, legally blind, and a Muslim. This CD is about the breakup of his marriage. He had custody of his son but had some really rough times where he and his son were homeless. That is all on the CD but sometimes it was lost on me because of all of the swearing. Maybe I am just a prude. I think it's possible to get a message like that across without the swearing, but, to each his own.

My favorite songs are "Truth is," "Take Me Home," and "Walking Away." "Truth is" was played a lot on the Current a couple of years ago. The song "Take Me Home" is the link down below. I think this song illustrates my point about the melody behind the rap. I love this melody, it's infectious, and I find myself humming it all the time. He has a couple of other songs that have infectious hooks like this. "Walking Away" I like because it is so poignant. It is the song about him leaving his wife. That did not sound like a healthy relationship as he repeats so often in the song "If you hadn't tried to kill me, I'd a stayed for the kid." Yikes. She must have been an angry m***** f*****. See the swearing thing is catching! It's what I was afraid of.

I am pretty sure the song "Truth is" is why Ross bought the CD. He really liked that song. Then he read one of those articles about it being one of the best albums of the year that they write in the paper, every 6 months. That convinced him to buy this, not that he really needed convincing. He was always willing to try different music, even rap. I however feel no need to keep this CD. If anyone wants it, just let me know. I did download it to my iTunes though so it wasn't as horrible as I first felt it was (see my theory is still valid). It's similar to the BlackFrancis CD, this CD grew on me but I don't need to have it in my collection. I'm not very sentimental like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxUQ07NXB4c&feature=related