Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color by Brother Ali

Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, Brother Ali's fifth studio album, came out through Rhymesayers Entertainment on September 18, 2012, and the title lays out the tension between despair and hope that drives it. Jake One produced every track, giving the Rhymesayers rapper and community activist a lush, soulful bed to preach from, and Dr. Cornel West drops in as a guest.

Ali sounds like a man who has done the organizing on the ground and come back to the booth with his sleeves still rolled up: heavy with conviction, never short on warmth. "Only Life I Know" is a case in point. Critics received it well, and it moved 10,000 copies in seven days on its way to number 44 on the Billboard 200.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.