afropunk premiere: check the surreal visuals to abdu ali’s “keep movin (negro kai)” #soundcheck

One of my favorite underground rappers right now has to be Abdu Ali. A Baltimore-based artist, activist, and scene organizer whose KAHLON parties have grown into a Baltimore institution, Ali’s tracks are consistently challenging, thought-provoking, and boundary-pushing. Although his tracks cast a wide net, they’re always tied together by flourishes of noise, unexpected samples, and an inimitable delivery. His videos are surreal, playing equally on Afrofuturism and glitch. The latest, directed by GHOST DRANK adds squigglevision and old school digital art into the mix. It’s like a screwdriver to your visual cortex, but in a good way. On “Keep Movin” Ali draws a line between the great magical realist pioneer Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Nina Simone, Tricky, and Mansa Musa. It’s a song of empowerment, he describes the chorus as “like a chant, a hymn, to motivate and restore faith.”

By Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor

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Abdu Ali says about the song: “i see the song as a modern day negro spiritual. as u can see even though i proclaim a lot of shit like im black and beautiful i still am battling with feeling that way and being from my circumstance: being black queer a man living in america 2015. a lot of my songs are packed with imagery and are more like monologues. im speaking out to anyone who will listen and can join in. i wanted to create music that can serve as a mirror to the identity and mind state of someone like me but also serve the same purpose as negro spirituals did for slaves back in the day. to provide a voice and a affirmation that everything will be ok”.

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“Keep Movin” was produced by Mental Jewelry and Abdu Ali and will appear on his mixtape ‘MONGO’ due out in 2016.

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Photo credit: Serena Jara

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