Phillly Emcee Ai-Que Unveils Socially-conscious & Politically-poignant Debut Full-length The American Dream (Ai-Que MCBoogie)
Still riding high on the success of his recent single with Rolled Gold & Reef The Lost Cauze, "Nite Owl's Theme," Ai-Que AKA Ai-Que MCBoogie AKA "The Multi-faceted Rap Machine" has returned with his debut full-length, The American Dream. Ai-Que is a Philly-based emcee "heavily focused on the cultural impact and unification of global communities." Ai-Que also, moonlights as co-host of The BANGERS & MASH PODCAST (@bangersandmashtheshow) along with Ali Miller FKA Truck North of The Legendary Roots Crew. On the eve prior to The American Dream's Saturday, July 21st release, Ai-Que played a monumentous show with dead prez, Reef The Lost Cauze & DJ ANTLIVE at The Ardmore Music Hall hosted by D.R.E.S. Tha Beatnik. When asked what his greatest sources of inspiration and influence behind The American Dream were, Ai-Que stated he wanted to "create something that was sonically, more contemporary without compromising the integrity of the lyrics;" with the full intention from the get-go of making "an album that cohesively blended together [that] addressed our social climate and history, but people could play at night or going to the club, or before a game, or on a road-trip."
Diligently working with his go-to studio engineers, Ai-Que hand-selected beat stems from a slew of producers, including Eric Wortham, Aarun Simon, Thorn and E.N.O.N. Jacobs, as well as Ai-Que himself on "Escapism." "I picked beats that [sounded] like they could be on the radio. The projects I've released in the past have always been more Boom-Bap, whereas, this sounds like it was made in 2018," Ai-Que explained within an email to The Witzard. The American Dream has an underlying theme of social consciousness and political poignancy running through, similar stylistically, to "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" from Gil Scott-Heron's critically-acclaimed 1971 studio debut, Pieces of a Man. On his American Dream, Ai-Que is assisted by Arianna Cash on opener "The Savages," I-be4ever on "Cowboys&Indians," and his BANGERS & MASH PODCAST co-host Ali Miller (FKA Truck North) on appropriately-tilted Bonus Cut, "Bangers&Mash." The American Dream is available directly from Ai-Que's "Ai-Tunes," via PayPal for $11.00 or on Apple Music, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spotify, TIDAL, and like-minded digital retailers.
"The studio debut of Ai-Que, The American Dream is a concept album masterfully scripted and arranged, rich with clever lyrics and a sonic sophistication that provides listeners with an enjoyable experience, without departing from the raw messages of the songs. It is a contemporary soundscape drawing parallels between the African-American experience and American History, as well as the general American philosophy of "Get Money.'"
- Ai-Que (Soundcloud)
