Artist · chart history
Brother Ali
Solo artist Madison United States
Brother Ali is an artist from Madison. Brother Ali has 4 chart appearances on 3 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 2009–2017. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Fresh Air”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #11. The station that charted Brother Ali most often is The Current (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN), with 4 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2009.
Brother Ali raps like a preacher who's read the fine print on the American dream and wants a word with management. Born in 1977 and rooted in Madison, he found his home in the Rhymesayers Entertainment crew, the hip-hop collective behind a long run of his records: eleven albums and four EPs so far.
The Undisputed Truth in 2007 is one of the records he's best known for, and Us followed in 2009 as a warmer, fuller-sounding set, with "Fresh Air" riding a buoyant, soulful groove and the title track stretching out slow and stately. Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, in 2012, sharpened the edges again, and "Only Life I Know" is as much testimony as it is verse. All three records charted on Billboard and won over critics.
Off the mic he works as a community activist, and you can hear it in the music: his albums carry the weight of somebody who shows up for his neighbors, then goes home and writes about it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Brother Ali on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fresh Air | 1 | #11 | – | 2009 | |
| 2 | Us | 1 | #44 | – | 2009 | |
| 3 | Only Life I Know | 1 | #50 | – | 2012 | |
| 4 | Own Light (What Hearts Are For) | 1 | #72 | – | 2017 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 72 | Own Light (What Hearts Are For) | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2017 |
| 2012 | 50 | Only Life I Know | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2012 |
| 2009 | 11 | Fresh Air | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2009 |
| 2009 | 44 | Us | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2009 |
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