It had been nearly an hour since the doors opened at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, MI, on Nov. 11, when MaLLy walked on the stage. MaLLy, the host, hypeman and opening act for Brother Ali’s Tuesday night performance on the Home Away from Home tour brought the stage to life with complex rhyme schemes and vulgar, catchy hooks.

 A rapper in his own right, MaLLy recently released his third studio album, “The Colors of Black.” The producer on the album, DJ Last Word, was behind him the whole time, laying down catchy beats, singing along with every song and genuinely enjoying the music.

After the crowd was sufficiently excited, MaLLy left the stage and Bambu, the bigger of the two opening acts walked on the stage. Out of Los Angeles, Bambu is a rare fusion of hardcore, West Coast rap and the politically-conscious hip-hop brought by Brother Ali’s label, Rhymesayers Entertainment. Bambu pushed a left-wing agenda, giving speeches about making women feel more comfortable in hip-hop and working class citizens getting more respect. Though Bambu absolutely rocked his performance, the tension in the room rose as the clock neared midnight, with chants shouting for Brother Ali and his partner from his Blind Pig performance exactly 12 years before, Atmosphere.

Finally, after three hours of loud music and intense heat, the man everybody came to see rose to the stage. And Ali, dressed in all black, did not disappoint, rapping verses of many songs in a row, broken up by stories, poems and political speeches. The crowd especially loved the live renditions of “Uncle Sam Goddamn,” “Truth Is,” and “Mourning in America,” off Ali’s most recent album, “Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color.” Although the show was equally balanced with exciting songs and slow songs such as “Letter to My Countrymen,” the whole night pushed a message that has always been present in Ali’s rapping.

The theme of love for the middle and lower class, and criticism of those in power was consistent throughout all three artists. The rappers were able to excite the crowd with a borderline political rally using witty humor, complex lyricism and creative musical ideas to bring to light the problems with political and social institutions in our world, particularly in America. Every fan who came to see Brother Ali left the show not only sufficiently entertained, but also more politically aware than than when they arrived.