Meet: Ali!

Photography, writing and editing by Kian Gannon

You’ve very recently released your second mixtape “Godspeed”. Firstly, talk to me about the name before we get into anything else. How long has that been lined up? Is there a particular reason for it, etc.?

Ali!: Well, I draw inspiration from a bunch of different things, and they all just sort of naturally align into one thing. So, after “Running Man” I was listening to Blonde by Frank Ocean a lot. That album's been pretty much my definitive album growing up, and I love how every single song on that project has so much personality. That project in general is something that has had so much staying power, in a time where I feel like music can come and go so quickly. I knew I wanted my shit to match that staying power. Then in terms of subject matter, I didn’t think inspiration would hit so soon but I found that I had a bunch of stuff on my mind after Battle of the Raps. At that time I was starting a lot of new shit in my life, and also letting go of a lot of shit. Taking from those two reference points, I saw the track “Godspeed” off Blonde and you know, Godspeed being something you say at the beginning and end of a journey, I felt like it matched perfectly with what I wanted to say. Those two inspirations melded so well for me, that I knew what the tape was gonna be about right then and there. All I knew at the time is that this isn’t a mixtape that was going to be here today and gone tomorrow, it’s going to be something that I can sit on forever and people will enjoy it more and more as time goes on.

Around what time did the idea for the name become concrete?

Ali!: Sometimes shit just hits when you least expect it. I don’t know what it was but “Godspeed” was stuck in my ear for so long. I was also deep into comics then and I was reading the Justice League, one of my favourite heroes is Flash and one of his main villains is Godspeed. He sucks ass but, maybe seeing that word over and over again had something to do with me liking it as a title.

That’s sick though because if you keep bumping into something, it’s almost a psychological thing that you’re doing without even realizing.

Ali!: Yeah, and a lot of the time I just think of some cool shit and then prescribe meaning to it afterwards. You could say I did that with Godspeed because it wasn’t going to be the definitive name, but it was always in the back of my mind. Eventually, I brought it to the forefront when I actually had a good reason to apply it, you know what I mean?

Yeah, for sure. So that would have been just after Battle of the Raps and coming off of the release of “Running Man” and figuring out what the next step was?

Ali!: Yeah, it was around two or three weeks after Battle of the Raps. I wasn’t really expecting to work on something else so soon. I had no idea where this career would go after that but I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t release something mundane just for the sake of releasing it.

Was there ever a time when you had an alternate title or idea for the project overall?

Ali!: Not for the title or the cover, those ideas stuck once I had them, but one thing that did change a lot was the actual songs. Even up to the last week before the mixtape came out, I kept changing things because I felt like I could switch the dynamic of some of the songs. For example, Asthmatic went through like 15 different renditions, and Helvetica went through like 20 different renditions. I have a few songs that were completely scrapped because I thought that they didn’t fit the moment.

What did you find different between the recording process of “Godspeed” compared to your debut mixtape “Running Man”? How was that process overall?

Ali!: Well, a lot of it’s the same. This time I’m recording on my own mic, I upgraded my studio a little bit. I also recorded some of the songs back home in Iran when I went to see the family. In terms of mentality during “Running Man”, I recorded it and had no idea as to where it would get me so I was really harsh on myself. Especially as my first impression on people, I wanted it to be really impactful and I didn’t want people to brush it off. I was definitely a little insecure about curating all of that because it was the first artistic thing that I had released in that way, and I didn’t know what the reaction would be. I knew I liked it, which is why I released it but, I just didn’t know what would happen after it was out.

Now that I’ve been engulfed in the Toronto scene for a bit and people know me as a rapper, instead of a producer, clothing designer, or whatever, it’s changed my perspective. Also, going a little bit viral on social media and having people recognize me for my music was new to me, it gave me a taste of what a career out of all this could be like, I got a taste of success and that’s all I needed to go full pedal to the metal. The fact that I was being acknowledged a little bit for my music and having people reach out to me definitely changed my headspace. It wasn’t a matter of questioning whether Godspeed would be good, it became more about it being great and it being something that people weren’t expecting. I gained a lot more confidence in myself and a lot of that came from the community I’m in, but also it was a lot of self-reflection. I felt like I had proved that I could do music to myself with “Running Man”. Now I had to prove it to the world that I deserve to do it with “Godspeed”.

The confidence shows in the music too, and I think from a compositional standpoint looking at production and the layout of the new project, you can really see that. You laid down the groundwork for the mentality of each project, but when it came to recording “Godspeed” was it mostly a solo thing?

Ali!: It’s sorta crazy, it’s not the same for any song on the tape. The lead single “Bishop” took me and my co-writer James a bunch of sessions to get it where it had to be. We would meet up in a parking lot and play the instrumentals on a loop while we wrote lyrics or freestyled. That’s how we came up with a lot of that song, but the hook actually came to me right before I fell asleep. I was just humming to myself and once I had it, I jumped out of bed and opened my notes to write it down. For “Asthmatic” those two choruses both popped up when I was laying in bed about to fall asleep too. I’m very meticulous with my writing and I can’t really force any of it, if I’m in that zone and it clicks then I can write a bunch of stuff down really fast. I always want it to feel natural because I feel like if I’m forcing it or if I’m not in the right headspace, it won’t pan out well. I usually end up listening to the instrumentals a couple hundred times to get into that groove before I finish writing.

So I guess in terms of your process, you would produce the instrumentals beforehand and then go from there with writing and revisiting to fix certain things?

Ali!: More or less, yeah. Sometimes I’ll have this gut feeling that I have to go back and fix something If I didn’t like it even a little bit. It might be the delivery, the drum pattern, or the way I come in on the song versus how I come in at another point. The gut feeling has never done me wrong and I stick by that. I think it’s pretty clear when I’m listening back to these tracks if I’m unhappy with something or if I’m really happy with how everything sounds. Being a producer and rapper, you can go through all these layers of editing your art to make it exactly how you pictured it. So that’s sort of a benefit to being both, I can make this as close to my vision as I want.

Amazing. In that case, it’s really interesting because you can make the beat and do all the production work, and you don’t have to hand it off to someone else and hope they do it justice. You can guarantee that it’ll sound how you envisioned it because you’re the one rapping on it.

Ali!: Yeah, and at this point in my career I’ve been really focused on restricting the number of collaborations I’ve had on my music. I want to prove how much I can do and how strong my artistic vision is. It’s crazy, I always mention that I produce all my music, and during the “Running Man” era I would have people messaging me asking who my producer was because they really liked the production. I was always like, bro it says on every single post “Produced by me”. So you know, I have to keep on pushing that and the result is that people respect the craft more knowing I was the ear and the director behind a lot of the sound.

With that being said, “Running Man” and “Godspeed” couldn’t be half the projects they were, without the people I had around me. For example, my co-writer and co-producer really helped me with having someone to bounce ideas off of. Having that tunnel vision is great, but having that tunnel vision with someone else is the difference between good and great. I always think about Kanye’s album “MBDTF” and how he made that through a rap camp. Even “Donda” is one of my favorites from Kanye, and he made that in a tiny room inside a stadium with a bunch of other artists.

I think a good way to say it, is that I used collaboration in the last two projects to further the vision I already had. As opposed to collaborating with the goal of bringing someone on to do their own thing and have their own vision for what the song is going to be. I wanted my ideas to flourish, especially in my earlier work.

Speaking of collaborations, Track 10, titled “Pagliacci” is one of my personal favorites. How was it working with Sunny and Remsen to put that song together? If I’m not mistaken that’s your first time working with features, tell me about that compared to your regular solo process.

Ali!: So going back to what I said earlier, I wanted my artistic vision to flourish and for Pagliacci, which is such a deep cut and an emotional song, I wanted my brothers to be with me for that one. I was more of a fan than a collaborator with Remsen before the project and it was weird reaching out to him because I don’t even think we had met in person at that point. I only knew him through mutuals, but I was such a fan of his work and his low register, his cadence, and his flows. He had so much to offer and I sent him a rough cut of Pagliacci and told him to go crazy with it. I was assuming he was going to do more melodic stuff with it, and I was thrown off in a really good way when I got his verse back. I didn’t think he would go that deep with his verse and go so far in depth. I didn’t know what to expect at all and it blew me away. It was really interesting for me because he didn’t hear any of the other songs prior to that, but he was able to match the thematics of the whole entire project.

I was in the position where I would’ve asked both Sunny and Remsen to redo their feature if it wasn’t what I was looking for. But both of them really understood it off the rip and did more than I could’ve asked for.

Speaking of Sunny, I had him come onto the project pretty late but he was so down to do it once he heard the song. I found it so beautiful because as much as I respect these guys as just friends, I’m also a huge fan of theirs. I’ve been listening to “Bedstuy” a lot recently, and it’s really just hitting me that, damn these guys are so good at what they do and I can call them up, tell them my idea for the song and they get what I’m going for first try. It was an uncomfortable moment for me because it was the first time I had features on a song and it was the first time I ever sang on a song. I love being uncomfortable though because that’s the only way I can push myself to be greater. I think it shows in the music too because that’s the song that has been resonating with so many people and it has done some of the best numbers.

I have to mention the singing at the end of that track because to me it fits the build of the song so well. It’s almost like a cry or a yell but in this melodic way that resolves the tension and leads you to the last few lyrics.

Ali!: You wanna know what’s crazy? That humming at the end is actually in reverse. I did a few takes of that and I was still nervous about singing so it took me a few minutes to get there. When I listened back to them though, I decided to reverse it and it fit perfectly because that incline that it brought matched the feeling of letting all my feelings out perfectly. Also, the four lines that end the song were done in one take. I usually do a bunch of takes because I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but for once I didn’t have to do it again because I loved it instantly.

Yeah man, that’s definitely a big moment on the tape for me and I’m sure it is for you as well.

Ali!: Yeah, being the emotional climax of the tape I wanted the payoff to be there for the listener and it was, with flying colours. My co-writer described it the best when I played it back for him. He said “it sounds like the light at the end of the tunnel when you know everything’s gonna be okay”, and that’s exactly what I was going for. He was just the one that was able to articulate that so well to me.

I think that’s when you know you’ve done something great, when the art translates by itself and people are able to understand the message and concept off the rip.

I wanted to jump back to our conversation about collaborations and being a producer/artist. It’s an interesting characteristic to have in Rap/Hip-hop, who are some of your musical inspirations? Whether they are artists, producers, or both.

Ali!: I always have had this top 6 that I refer back to in music, and I have a few other random inspirations. So that top 6 is Kanye, Frank Ocean, Drake, Logic, Tyler The Creator, and Childish Gambino. Without even thinking about it, I always refer back to them in some way. Whether it’s inspiration from an old bar on a Gambino mixtape, or a chord section, or the synth from a particular Tyler song, their influence definitely shows on the tape. Deviating into the more unorthodox approach to inspiration, Virgil Abloh inspired some of “Helvetica”, the Batman animated series that inspired the stark red color of the cover. Even some of the bars come from comics and are nerdier. Like, even the title “Bishop” is a reference to Hawkeye. I wear my influences on my sleeve because they’re a reflection of who I am.

I’ve always found that really cool. The whole comic book reference and inspiration is something that is so organically you, and you let that show directly in your art.

Ali!: Yeah, and that’s just part of what I like and who I am. I find it crazy that all these artists that people think are so prestigious in terms of how they present themselves, they all have a nerdy background or they all fall in love with something. I remember when Lil Yachty went big with “Poland”, he was posting about how no one can smoke him in Fortnite. So you know, every “cool” person has shit that could be seen as silly or nerdy, that they like.

Before we start to wrap up, I wanted to talk a little bit about the future. Being that you’ve just released the mixtape, I’m sure you’re more so just enjoying that at the moment. However, what are the next steps for you as an artist? Is there anything specifically that you’re looking to do, or invest in, etc.?

Ali!: I’ll say this. Since 2021, I’ve told myself that I have to feel uncomfortable with what I do. Whether it was the release of “Godspeed”, or “Running Man”, or doing my first show, I feel myself growing year by year and it’s all based on being uncomfortable. I knew that “Godspeed” was going to do well because I was uncomfortable with releasing it. So, in the future I’m going to continue to push myself and make more room in this bubble I have. I have a bunch of stuff on my mind in terms of ideas, but overall, 2023 is going to be me pushing the envelope even further with my shit.

Originally I thought I would take a little break, but the music keeps coming back to me and I love doing what I do, so I’m always going to be working on new stuff. In terms of a new stuff that I’ll put out, I think I have to live life a bit and then come back when I’ve collected my thoughts and I have something new to say.

That’s great, I’m excited to see what you have in store for next year.

Ali!: Thanks for this man. Sidenote, you know what else I realized bro? I played Minecraft when I was a kid for hundreds of hours but I never finished it. So I’m hoping to finish that at some point, because I can’t be 80 years old and not finish the one game I put my heart and soul into as a kid.

You heard it here first. 2023, Ali beats Minecraft. Hahaha.