Best of
the Twin Cities
It’s almost as if the entirety of Minneapolis rapper Brother Ali’s 20-year career has been leading up to the profoundly sad yet beautiful “Dear Black Son,” a highlight from last year’s All the Beauty in This Whole Life. The song shares a premise with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ celebrated Between the World and Me: Ali raps as though reciting a letter to his son Faheem, reflecting on his deep understanding of his son from infancy to manhood. The deeply loving second verse is ultimately even more powerful than the ominous first, with Ali rapping, “All I can do is wonder how can anyone not love you?” It all amounts to one of the most important songs in Ali’s already impressive catalog.
