Determined, hardworking, and hungry. Three words to describe Mook Ali, the young MC from Baltimore Maryland. RESPECT. took the time to hang with the up and coming artist as he discussed his new music, growing up in Baltimore and much more. Check it out!

RESPECT.: How long have you rapping? How did you start out?

MookAli: I’ve loved music from the time I was born. Every Christmas I asked for a new drum set or guitar or book to fill with rhymes, I didn’t actually take  it seriously though until  about 6th grade when I realized that I had no life aspirations other than to make music. I’m not a 9 to 5 n***a, so I told myself that by age 25 I wasn’t going to be nobody’s employee. Although I was good at other things, I wasn’t good at anything that I could honestly see myself doing the rest of my life besides music. So I made that my only focus.

RESPECT.: Does Baltimore have a huge impact on who you are as an artist? 

Baltimore has impacted everything I do as an artist. Being from Baltimore you live with this crab in a barrel mindset, that everyone around you doesn’t want your success to trump theirs. Being in Baltimore for 19 years, I’ve yet to see any familiar face actually make it out. That alone gives me all the drive I need not to be like every other n***a in my city.

RESPECT.: What artist inspire you most?

A lot of Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Drake, and some Kendrick. I really don’t listen to a lot of music though, I rather just make my own music and listen to it because a lot of these rappers aren’t good enough to me, they just all talk about the same shit.

RESPECT.: What can we expect from you in the future?

I have a EP that will be out by the end of the summer. Right now, I’m just trying to grow as an artist and perfect my craft. I’ve done a lot of ghost writing for other people so it’s about me and my music right now.

RESPECT.: You recently won a competitive rap battle at Crank Wars in DC, how did that feel? What was it like going up against some of your competitors?

Man, it felt great. I don’t usually battle rap so it was cool seeing everybody respond to my music and vibing out to it. Even the people I was up against were cool, and gave me some good feedback. I made a lot of good connections and I’m supposed to collab with one of the contestants too.

RESPECT.: What do you think sets you apart from other artists?

Honestly the content, I try to switch my sound around rather just stick to one genre of music. Sometimes I do trap music sometimes I write conscious music, it’s just good to have more than one genre so you can generate a bigger fan base. When I write I also try to glue together all the people who inspire me in one so that way the person listening will never be able to guess who it is.

RESPECT.: In your J.Cole remix Love Yourz you mentioned how the government is basically against blacks and don’t want us to prosper. How do you feel about the recent crimes taking place and you feel as though rappers are doing their part in trying to help?

All the recent crimes and shootings are sickening but sadly I’m not surprised by it anymore. So much shit happens nowadays that I’m hardly even effected by each new hashtag or victim. But I don’t feel like prominent rappers are doing their part. As a hot rapper in 2016, virtually anything you do will be mimicked by your fans. So, just as rappers like future got everybody out here popping Xans or drinking lean, n***as need to have their fans out here supporting black owned businesses and boycotting prejudice establishments.

My EP Cold Summer will be out by the end of the summer. It’s 7 tracks long and it’s just giving people a feel for who I am as an artist and what I have to offer. I want to give people a mix and reach out to more than one fan base.

RESPECT.: What is the rap game like in Baltimore? 

It’s decent but the dopest rappers are usually the most slept on. If you ain’t a hood n***a or telling a hood story you usually don’t go far in Baltimore. But Jay Verze, Tate Kobang, and President Davo are definitely in my top five from Baltimore.

RESPECT.: What was your experience like at Howard University? 

Man, Howard is home. You hear a lot of complaints about Howard but overall I’ve never been some where that’s influenced me or my music more than Howard has and that’s after living in Baltimore for 19 years.

If you want to hear more from Mook Ali you can follow him on Soundcloud and Twitter for updates on his music and much more.

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