Brother Ali has pondered the end of modern society in his new anti-authoritarian track and music video, “The Collapse.”
The celebrated Wisconsin-born lyricist outlines the end of an authoritarian regime on the song, which dropped on Wednesday (March 20).
AD LOADING...
On the song, which features production from unJUST, Ali raps: “You see the tyrants buckle when their lies start to crumble/ The high turn humble when their empire tumble/ The bone-chilling condition war criminal villain/ Their pronouns are pronounced as chosen and victim.”
Elsewhere on the track, Ali raps: “They battled and oppressed each other where they rest/ The weak ones left for better dwellings and they welcomed them as guests/ But love wasn’t present in their breast/ They only knew the power to devour and possess/ They raided and invaded their spaces and their flesh/ Called them terrorists when they resist.”
Though Brother Ali has has dropped a number of singles in 2024, he’s been relatively quiet since 2019, when he dropped an unexpected album called Secrets &Escapes, which featured production handled solely by Evidence.
The project was the result of three trips to California, during which Ali organically dropped rhymes in a Venice garage while the Dilated Peoples alum chopped up samples on old school equipment.
AD LOADING...
The 11-track project served as the follow-up to 2017’s All The Beauty In This Whole Life and features appearances from Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and CS Armstrong.
Back in 2016, Ali reflected on his work and personal life in an interview with HipHopDX, including thoughts that are still extremely relevant to our modern age.
He said: “People my age and younger, we have a difficult time practicing accountability and communication when things aren’t going well…So if somebody does something that disappoints us or that offends us or that hurts us, there’s a way to, as a community or as a group or as a family, hold somebody accountable in a loving way.
“You basically bring the issue to the person and the idea has to be that, ‘I love you and you would never be doing this if you realized how hurtful it is. It just seems that you’ve failed to see how disruptive this thing that you’re doing is.’
AD LOADING...
“So you make it known to the person so that they can see it and hear it and understand it and deal with it and wrestle with it and then account for it and change it. Or, also give them an opportunity maybe to where they could say, ‘I did this on purpose and this is why. This is me. This is what I’m doing, what I’m on.’”
