“How long has it been since I last saw you? A whole year? Man, why don’t you ever call me?” exclaims critically-acclaimed Twin Cities-based rapper Brother Ali. This gregariousness is familiar to anyone who knows Ali, in spite of the fact that his music has begun dealing with increasingly deep topics that have forced him to do a great deal of soul searching. “After going to Makkah [to complete an Islamic pilgrimage], things really changed for me,” says the man formerly known as Jason Newman, who converted to Islam 20 years ago.

“A bunch of mothers came to me in Chicago and said, “Ali, we love your music; we play it to our kids all the time!’ And around then I started thinking, ‘Wow, there are some really bad words in there.’” As a result, Ali’s latest album, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color features far less profanity than his past works. “There’s obviously a little bit [of profanity] in there because I need to tell it like it is, but there’s a lot less than before.” Ali was also influenced by his friends as he began to make his music more socially-conscious. “I was talking to [fellow rapper] Ali Shaheed Muhammad of [rap group] A Tribe Called Quest, and he told me, ‘Your message is so much bigger than the words you’re using.’ Now I’m just trying to best represent what I’m trying to say.” Judging by both positively and negatively enthusiastic responses to the social justice-centric messages prominently featured on this most recent album, it looks as though he’s succeeded.