The Real Story: Why Brother Ali Is On The Home Away From Home Tour
By Kyle Eustice
As the Home Away From Home Tour comes to a close (last show is November 14 in Chicago), Brother Ali is still thoroughly enjoying his time on the road with his partners in crime, MaLLy and Bambu. After all, this is the first time he's been on his own in quite awhile. The last tour he did was with Immortal Technique and he had a few Rock the Bells dates sprinkled in between. He hasn't toured on his own since his last album, 2012's Mourning in America Dreaming in Color was dropped on Rhymesayers Entertainment, the Minnesota native's musical home since 2000. As Ali criss-crosses his way across the country, he took some time to talk to RAPstation about the tour, meeting Bambu and the value of small, intimate shows. For tour dates, check out www.brotherali.com.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): You have been in California, studying Arabic, right?
I was out in the Bay. Lived in Oakland, studied in Berkeley.
Are you going to get a place out there?
I have a place out there where I can stay. That's one of my homes away from home, Oakland.
That explains the tour name.
[Laughs]. Yep.
What is the tour about?
It's basically because I haven't done my own tour in a few years. I did other things like Rock the Bells and my tour with Immortal Technique, and I was doing a lot of speaking and things like that. But it's been a couple years that I've been able to be in a room with just my listeners that know my work. I miss the people and I miss being on stage, and that kind of thing. I just wanted to do it.
What made you decide to bring Bambu along and how long have you known each other?
I've known him for a few years. He played at Soundset a couple of years ago. He and Immortal Technique have been friends for a few years, too. We both did a show for Immortal Technique in New York City. I can't remember which was first, but yeah, I met him through Tech and Slug is a big fan of his, too. I think Slug might have shown me his music first actually. I'm a fan of his and I know that he's been doing a lot of touring, but he hasn't had a chance to get East as much as he should. He's been doing a lot, but I think that, especially getting east of Colorado would be really good. When an artist is from the West, you can tour and make a really good living just on the West. From Colorado over, you can just do that and that's it. There are a lot of people that do that and are happy. I don't judge that. If I was from out there, I would probably do it that way, as well. It's a lot more work to do the South, Midwest and the East Coast. The drives are really far, some of the cities show a lot of love and others the crowd are small. The thing about the West Coast is there are a lot of people, people out there have money to spend and the weather is really good, the drives are really short. For guys that smoke weed, that's a big thing out there. The West Coast is really appealing. Doing the South, East Coast and Midwest is a little bit harder, but it's really rewarding. It's good for people to get a chance to do that and see why it's so valuable though even though it's not as sweet.
Well the more you do those cities; the bigger the fan base grows. It just keeps growing and growing. There's a whole country out there, a whole world.
Some of the places we're going, it was never huge, but it's still worth it.
Some of my most memorable experiences have been those small, intimate shows.
True.
There's value in all of it.
Yes.
You won't believe it. I just found the first photo I took of you at Sokol Underground in Omaha around 2006.
Wow. 2006? Do you remember who I was with?
All I remember is the old Rhymesayers banner that was behind the DJ. I was so nervous. I remember you could tell I was nervous because I just started my career. The next interview we did you said well, that went a lot better than last time [laughs].
[Laughs]. Oh yeah, I remember. I think that might have been 2007.
It was a good time.
That was Psalm One and Toki Wright.
That's right! So are you working on any new material?
I have new music that I've made, but it doesn't feel like I'm in album mode yet. I'm not rushing it. I never had. All of my albums have been a few years apart. I like to make music when I feel really inspired to do that. I have new songs and new stuff. This tour is about doing songs I normally don't do; all fan favorite songs. I haven't toured as just me for a long time. The last tour I did was for the Mourning in America album and there was a political tone the show. It was message-based. Now I just want to have fun.
Brother Ali: The RAPstation Interview
The Real Story: Why Brother Ali Is On The Home Away From Home Tour
By Kyle Eustice
As the Home Away From Home Tour comes to a close (last show is November 14 in Chicago), Brother Ali is still thoroughly enjoying his time on the road with his partners in crime, MaLLy and Bambu. After all, this is the first time he's been on his own in quite awhile. The last tour he did was with Immortal Technique and he had a few Rock the Bells dates sprinkled in between. He hasn't toured on his own since his last album, 2012's Mourning in America Dreaming in Color was dropped on Rhymesayers Entertainment, the Minnesota native's musical home since 2000. As Ali criss-crosses his way across the country, he took some time to talk to RAPstation about the tour, meeting Bambu and the value of small, intimate shows. For tour dates, check out www.brotherali.com.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): You have been in California, studying Arabic, right?
I was out in the Bay. Lived in Oakland, studied in Berkeley.
Are you going to get a place out there?
I have a place out there where I can stay. That's one of my homes away from home, Oakland.
That explains the tour name.
[Laughs]. Yep.
What is the tour about?
It's basically because I haven't done my own tour in a few years. I did other things like Rock the Bells and my tour with Immortal Technique, and I was doing a lot of speaking and things like that. But it's been a couple years that I've been able to be in a room with just my listeners that know my work. I miss the people and I miss being on stage, and that kind of thing. I just wanted to do it.
What made you decide to bring Bambu along and how long have you known each other?
I've known him for a few years. He played at Soundset a couple of years ago. He and Immortal Technique have been friends for a few years, too. We both did a show for Immortal Technique in New York City. I can't remember which was first, but yeah, I met him through Tech and Slug is a big fan of his, too. I think Slug might have shown me his music first actually. I'm a fan of his and I know that he's been doing a lot of touring, but he hasn't had a chance to get East as much as he should. He's been doing a lot, but I think that, especially getting east of Colorado would be really good. When an artist is from the West, you can tour and make a really good living just on the West. From Colorado over, you can just do that and that's it. There are a lot of people that do that and are happy. I don't judge that. If I was from out there, I would probably do it that way, as well. It's a lot more work to do the South, Midwest and the East Coast. The drives are really far, some of the cities show a lot of love and others the crowd are small. The thing about the West Coast is there are a lot of people, people out there have money to spend and the weather is really good, the drives are really short. For guys that smoke weed, that's a big thing out there. The West Coast is really appealing. Doing the South, East Coast and Midwest is a little bit harder, but it's really rewarding. It's good for people to get a chance to do that and see why it's so valuable though even though it's not as sweet.
Well the more you do those cities; the bigger the fan base grows. It just keeps growing and growing. There's a whole country out there, a whole world.
Some of the places we're going, it was never huge, but it's still worth it.
Some of my most memorable experiences have been those small, intimate shows.
True.
There's value in all of it.
Yes.
You won't believe it. I just found the first photo I took of you at Sokol Underground in Omaha around 2006.
Wow. 2006? Do you remember who I was with?
All I remember is the old Rhymesayers banner that was behind the DJ. I was so nervous. I remember you could tell I was nervous because I just started my career. The next interview we did you said well, that went a lot better than last time [laughs].
[Laughs]. Oh yeah, I remember. I think that might have been 2007.
It was a good time.
That was Psalm One and Toki Wright.
That's right! So are you working on any new material?
I have new music that I've made, but it doesn't feel like I'm in album mode yet. I'm not rushing it. I never had. All of my albums have been a few years apart. I like to make music when I feel really inspired to do that. I have new songs and new stuff. This tour is about doing songs I normally don't do; all fan favorite songs. I haven't toured as just me for a long time. The last tour I did was for the Mourning in America album and there was a political tone the show. It was message-based. Now I just want to have fun.
