Brother Ali Hits the Studio with Jake One

BY Luke FoxPublished Apr 19, 2010

Rap artist Brother Ali is still touring North America in support of his 2009 opus, Us, but he's already scheming about his next two projects. The Minnesota MC has recently been hitting the studio with Seattle-based producer Jake One, a Rhymesayers label-mate who's currently receiving critical acclaim himself for this year's joint album with Freeway, The Stimulus Package.

"So far it's a lot of fun, and Jake's music allows me to rap in ways I don't rap on Ant's music," Ali recently told Exclaim! in an interview. "Me and him have made 12 songs together, and I don't know what I'm going to do with them; I'm thinking probably an EP. It's a fun process. Me and Jake are friends, and we go in [the studio, thinking], 'How do we make something ill? Let's make some bangers. Fuck the rest of these people.'"

Despite the joy of spitting over Jake One bangers, Ali insists that when it comes time to record his fifth full-length, he will return to the basement of Ant, who has almost exclusively constructed all of Ali's beats since the MC joined Rhymesayers.

"I don't know about an album [with Jake One]. Those great moments that I have — I'm convinced I can't achieve those with anybody but Ant, because he loves me," Ali says. "The music that he makes, that's what I need to get there. You can't duplicate that. With Ant, it's very sacred and it means a lot. Me and Ant try to find new areas of ourselves to explore; it's a completely different vibe."

So, which project will be a priority after Brother Ali wraps up his Breakin' Dawn tour?

"Probably both. Me and Ant will start working when I get back. Me and Jake have made songs with no real focus. I'll probably go out to Seattle and hang out with him and work on some shit and see what happens."

For Brother Ali's remaining North American dates, click here

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