After a lifetime of making homemade Hip Hop music, Brother Ali was so inspired by Minneapolis’ independent scene in the late 90’s that he wrote, produced, recorded, arranged, and mixed this 17-song demo tape on his own. He brought the demo to Siddiq at Rhymesayers who offered to press 1,000 copies on cassette and Ali’s professional career was born.
The tapes sold out at that summer’s Scribble Jam when battle champ label-mate Eyedea was paired up against the newcomer. At the time, Eyedea was legendary for his freestyling and battling but had yet to release a full project. When he remarked “You only sold two copies of your new tape”, Ali became the first MC to beat Eyedea in a battle by rebutting “You talk about my tape, at least I’ve got a tape”.
Written and Produced by Brother Ali
Released in 2000
