SG Ali: Carrying the Torch
Born and raised in Chicago, SG Ali is an exception in the highly male-dominated rap and hip-hop music industry. Even with only three tracks to her name, Ali has gathered a meaningful following in the last two years.
Her music reflects her life experiences, particularly the journey of growing up in the streets of Chicago, but what truly gives life to her music are her unfiltered and raw vocals.
Growing up, SG Ali had it rough. The musician saw the lows and highs of life in all its eternity but wore her struggles as her pride and used them to be who she is today.
She describes her love for music as so obsessive that at times, she would have YouTube on 24 hours a day until her grandma would finally unplug the system.
However, Ali was not always into music. She evolved as a poetic writer who found her love for rap music back in fifth grade. Interestingly, she had never written rap music, and even today, her rap comes right off her head at the moment. Even though she has freestyle, for the most part, SG Ali believes that over time, her rap writing skills have become much better.
The song that put Ali on the map was “All The Smoke.” She happened to release at the time when Mozzy, a famous rapper, took note of her work. Mozzy and Ali’s team soon contacted each other, and the rapper went on to make a remix of Ali’s famous song, “Wicked.”
When asked about the attention she has been receiving lately, Ali was rather surprised. She did not expect to get noticed since she believed that people don’t pay much attention to what rappers talk about.
However, in her case, it has been otherwise. More people find themselves vibing to her songs and relating to how real and authentic they are, as opposed to mainstream music. Handling stardom has been a challenge so far for Ali, who does not like to restrict herself when it comes to roaming on the streets freely.
She finds herself more motivated to work and write songs when she sees positive comments from people. According to SG Ali, there’s nothing more encouraging than support from people outside of her community, especially in a city where all you see is rage and hatred.
Ali has also revealed that a majority of her fans are kids, particularly boys who she often finds the most in her DMs. Nonetheless, she aims to make music for everyone and stay authentic with what she raps about.
SG Ali is currently working on a new project that she plans to reveal this summer. Since this is the first one she’s working on, the rapper does not wish to compromise on any aspect. At the moment, Ali is giving it some finishing touches and hopes to finally give people the dream she has been selling to them for years.
