Forgotten Treasure: Brother Ali “Rites of Passage” (2000)

Being an ’88 baby is a funny thing sometimes cause a lot of my favorite music acts were well established by the time I was of age to seek them out. Often I find myself curious of their humble beginning, which usually ends with a chuckle and sigh of relief that they matured over time, but occasionally I find myself with a serious treasure that clearly validates all the success that followed.

This week I found myself listening to Brother Ali’s debut album ‘Rites of Passage’, which was released April 2000 on cassette only. Damn, now that’s some serious time transcending. 12 years later and Brother Ali is still super relevant, on point and true to his style. Unfortunately, even after the all crazy buzz that followed the release of this album, only a handful were officially re-released on CD so unless you have your trusty old boom box at hand you probably won’t be able to get a physical copy of this bad boy but lucky for us some genius invented youtube. Be sure to check out its defining track ‘Think it Through’ (complete with dope hook from Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones“)

Label: Rhymesayers Entertainment

MF Gold

Music Journalist, Videographer and adamant Independent-Art Patron. She also cameos as a Personal Trainer/Kinesiologist and Massage Therapist in the daytime.