I wanted to do something special for CJLO's "Hip Hop for Life" celebratory week, so I managed to dig up this gem of a session from the Sonics archives, going way back to April 11, 2010.

This was a real special session - at the time pretty much everyone at CJLO was a huge Ali fan, and leading up to the Montreal date of the tour he was on at the time, he had done two interviews to hype it up on our airwaves and was featured in a column in the dearly departed local arts weekly the Montreal Mirror that was written by a former CJLO volunteer.  When I noticed a hint of a last minute possibility for a session based on his routing, I quickly contacted our pal Jess at Co-Sign who reached out immediately to Rhymesayers.  Within a few hours we had the whole thing planned - a day before he'd be in Montreal.

The day of the session, EVERYONE crowded into the Oven's control room, to witness the master at work - volunteers, staff, and broadcasters from all genres at the station.  It was really nice.  Asides from recording two session tracks of songs from the album he was supporting then, "Us" (which has recently been reissued for it's 10th anniversary - https://tinyurl.com/yca8yrsa), he entertained my "challenge" and dropped an on the spot improvised and totally spontaneous freestyle (!) over Autolux's "Turnstile Blues" - it was unbelievable, and we were losing our minds watching him do it.  But it was the conversation after that was the cherry on top - sitting in the Oven with Ali and discussing a wide range of topics, from his embrace of Islam, race and ethnic relations, politics, Minneapolis, and identity.

Later that night at his Montreal show, Ali remarked from the stage that his visit to the CJLO studios felt like "hanging out with a bunch of old friends".  We couldn't have said it better, Ali.  You're always welcome in our home.

Songs:
● Brother Ali - "Uncle Sam Goddamn"
● Brother Ali - "The Preacher" (Sonics Session)
● Brother Ali - "Mourning in America"
● Brother Ali - "De La Kufi" ft. Talib Kweli
● Brother Ali - "Tight Rope" (Sonics Session)
● Brother Ali - "Our Own Light"
● Brother Ali - Freestyle Over Autolux's "Turnstile Blues" (Sonics Session)

Session engineered by Brian Hastie and Lachlan Fletcher and mixed by Lachlan Fletcher
Autolux freestyle produced by Omar Sonics

Video availaible here:
"The Preacher" - https://youtu.be/FMwsbvsN60k
"Tight Rope" - https://youtu.be/UZ2WfjBWmNE
Freestyle Over Autolux's "Turnstile Blues - https://youtu.be/BhwUMvtsdQ0

Filmed and edited by Omar Sonics

Brother Ali - https://rhymesayers.com/artists/brotherali
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Hooked on Sonics - Session & Interview w/ Brother Ali

Yer weekly dose of indie rock, post-punk, power pop, shoegaze, math rock, noise pop, post-hardcore and anything with loud guitars...with some extras tossed into the mix. Hosted by Omar Sonics and a rotating cast of guests.

thursdays 4-6pmET on cjlo1690am / www.cjlo.com

Hooked on Sonics - Session & Interview w/ Brother Ali

hooked / on / sonics