new music: queer rapper abdu ali releases “i’m alive (humanized)” from upcoming mixtape “mongo”

2015 was a tough year for queer rapper, Abdu Ali. “There was a lot of fuckery in 2015 like Baltimore had an uprising that was provoked by the murder of Freddie Gray and on top of that the police in the U.S. killed more black folk than ever in 2015.” Before hitting the road for a country-wide tour of underground spots, Ali struggled with personal insecurities, the pressure of playing internet politics as a person who’s uninterested in conforming or playing by the “rules”. “Life, for me, as a queer black man rapper from Baltimore ain’t no crystal stairs.”

He was ready to give up, but unsure as to whether or not he belonged anywhere besides music. “So I stuck to what I know best, performing. I toured my ass off in 2015 and with every show, I found my purpose.”

Abdu Ali is ready to rise from the ashes and his new track “I’m Alive (Humanized)”, (produced by JPEGMafia) will tell you as much.

“”IM ALIVE (HUMANIZED)”, is about finding liberation through self-humanization, a theory inspired Paulo Freire, while also proudly proclaiming the power and beauty of blackness. The sound is my effort in fusing my influences of very black sounds like punk, afrofuturism, and rap, trying to connect the lineage of the african musical diaspora. I see black music as a way of sending metaphysical secret messages to another, that keeps us alive, empowered, and preserve our existence amidst of the oppressive society we live in. Take a listen. Get into the beat, the words, and enjoy. Shout out to mother, Alice Coltrane,” Ali tells AFROPUNK.

By Erin White, AFROPUNK contributor

https://soundcloud.com/abduali