Listen: Wale + Brother Ali, “2nd Time Around”

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It's about damn time DJs give Brother Ali's phone the ring ring hey hey to guest on mixtapes.

Wale is a veteran to the mixtape scene with his highly lauded 100 Miles & Running and The Mixtape About Nothing, but I can barely count on one hand the Brother Ali mixtape appearances.

Luckily for us DJ Benzi is one smart cookie. This is “2nd Time Around” from Benzi's new mixtape The New Deal.

Wale & Brother Ali, “2nd Time Around”

Wale seems stuck in his Seinfeld persona, rapping about nothing in particular (“It ain't nothing to me / I play the background, hometown, Mario 3”), or rapping to help remember new words he's learned (“Wale, I turn beef into mince meat / Your condescending ways don't convince me / I ain't know what condescending meant til yesterday / so I threw it in a rap so I'd remember that”). But it's Brother Ali who truly dazzles by calling himself “the original meaning of jazzy fat nasty” and calling out rap gangsters enslaved by the industry (“As soon as I hear ya'll on some real pro black / I will gladly go back to my emo rap”).

Based on the strength of this song and a lineup featuring Blu, Kanye West, Kidz In The Hall, Santogold and Kid Cudi, this could be a must cop tape.