Pure Positivity

Mighty Mos Def said it best, "Why does one straw break the camels back? Here's the secret, the million other straws underneath it." In the culture of Hip-Hop there is a paradigm shift going down. While Lil Wayne experiences seizures (probably from excessive codeine usage) and Nicky Minaj trots around like a trollop not fit for the slums of Kandahar, legitimate artists are emerging. They're shining lights on the fact that excessive materialism, drug use, violence, persecution, and sexism are not productive parts of society. Emcees are getting features on their albums from influential people like Dr. Cornell West (Brother Ali) and Maya Angelou (Kendrick Lamar). They're are openly rapping about the disgusting hate towards homosexuality (Murs & Macklemore). Even the catholic church and their rampant cover up of pedophilia isn't safe (Lupe Fiasco). The cherry on this sundae is the fact that all these artists have recently topped the charts on iTunes. Right

Bodies decorated with tattoos and chains trying to put armor between you and pain. How many hip-hop artists can rip a Jake One beat, smash mics with Freeway, make Carson Daily a legit fan, and get Dr. Cornell West to close out a track? Brother Ali just dropped one hell of an uplifting album. While others whine about the country railing down the road to perdition, Brother Ali brings a sense of realism to the table. We are a country founded on the fundamentals of lifting oneself up by ones bootstraps, but what happens when those bootstraps are weathered? That's the premise of the album. What to do when you're bootstraps can't afford another tug... Lyrics: Brother Ali - Only Life I Know It's my life Yeah the only one that I'll ever know Feeling extra low Please let me go Oh... Lord... No... It's my life Yeah the only one that I'll ever know And it stress me so God bless my soul Oh... Lord... No... Whether it's the projects or tr