“I went out there [to Seattle] about three or four times and we had one particular trip out there where we had a weekend where we made like three or four songs that are on the album, Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color,” Brother Ali said in the interview. ”We were like, ‘Okay, this is the sound! This is the topic! This is the feel! Now we’re making the album! These are the songs that are gonna be the skeleton of the album.’”

He explained how the creative process was different from his previous albums, mostly because he was working on the album in Seattle, rather than his home in Minneapolis. He went so far as to rent an apartment in Seattle, taking up residence while he worked with Jake One. “Rhymesayers [Entertainment] flew me out to Seattle and got me an apartment. You know, Rhymesayers are spending thousands of dollars for me to be here,” he explained, saying that it put more pressure on him to work on music continuously — even if the tracks that he created didn’t end up the way he wanted.

“I can’t just wait until the perfect song is in my head like I normally do. But, I can write a song. It might not be the song that I have in mind but I can write a song right now and I can feel like I’m doing something,” explained the “Chain Link” rapper, saying that such tracks made up the majority of the Bite Marked Heart EP that he dropped for free back in February. “That’s where a lot of these things that we’ve been leaking come from.”

Ali also discussed the differences in transitioning from working with Ant — of Atmosphere — who has produced all of his previous records, to having an album produced entirely by Jake One. For his part, Ali said that Jake One offered a more technical and sound-driven approach, whereas Ant’s focus was generally on the overall feel, or emotion, of the track as a whole.

“Jake [One, who produced this album] is really big on cadence. Ant is all about mood,” he explained. “Jake is all about flow. I’ll send him a song and he’ll send me back specifically, ‘At 1:29, you get off a little bit. At 2:04, you get off a little bit. You got too many words, fix that.’ He’s a very specific technician with that stuff, so it’s dope. It’s really good.”

Brother Ali spoke on a number of other topics in the interview, including social justice, political activism, his family, and remembering label-mate, Eyedea.

Brother Ali’s album, Mourning In America and Dreaming in Color, produced by Jake One, is due out on Rhymesayers Entertainment on August 13.

Watch the video for “Not a Day Goes By”, released today, below.

Off of Stoned Genius, available here, comes “Over Broil” by Roc C featuring Freeway and Oh No.

Rhymesayers MC Brother Ali spoke this week on two projects that have been in the works recently, explaining the current state of his newest solo LP with producer Jake One and calling it “too soon” to speak on his collaborative record with Freeway.

“My solo album is almost done, like mixed and ready to go, but we’re going to release that early next year,” Brother Ali said in an interview with OnMilwaukee.com. He explained that he’s just recently begun talking about the project — despite it being in the works for some time — because he doesn’t like fans to get excited too early in the process.

He also mentioned the album with himself and Philly’s Freeway, saying, “Honestly, I think Freeway kind of jumped the gun on talking about it,” saying that it was too early to talk about the project. The two-MC album was likely spawned from the critically-acclaimed collaboration between Brother Ali, Freeway and Seattle beatsmith Jake One, “The Truth”, which was featured on Jake One’s production album, White Van Music.

Rhymesayers also confirmed that although the Brother Ali and Jake One album is set to be released in 2012 sometime, there hasn’t been a decision yet on when the LP will be released.

The to-be-titled LP will be Ali’s seventh album in total, his first since the release of 2009′s Us. More information will be made available as it’s released.

Grynch – Mister Rogers [Prod. Jake One]

Jake One laces the beat while Grynch get’s down on “Mister Rogers.”

Joell Ortiz – Seven Duece [Prod. Jake One]

Here’s “Seven Duece” by Joell Ortiz over Jake One on the boards. The Life And Times Of Sebastian Rios is dropping soon.

Freeway – Listen [Prod. Jake One]

Peep this joint “Listen” produced by Jake One for Freeway off his upcoming Diamond In The Ruff.

Here’s the title track “Armor of God” produced by Jake One. Dropping July 5th.

Vakill – Armor of God prod. by Jake One by Molemen

Vakill – Armorgeddon [Prod. Jake One]

Peep the first release from Vakill’s album Armor of God coming June 14th produced by Jake One.

Tapping into the crowd-funding service, Kickstarter, the creators of the documentary, “The Otherside”, are asking for financial support to finish their film, which explores the emerging hip hop scene that’s present in Washington’s largest metro area.

M.A.D. Northwest, a media production company in Seattle, is the company behind the project. “‘The Otherside’ project is the vision of local Olympian JR Celski, Vinny Dom, and filmmakers Dan Torok and Jeff Santos,” the project’s KickStarter page explains. “Over the course of a year, we’ve compiled hours of interview and concert footage taken in various locations around the country including New York, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Colorado.”

The documentary will feature appearances from a number of Seattle artists, including Macklemore, Massive Monkees, Jake One, Shabazz Palaces, Blue Scholars, Vitamin D, DJ B-Mello, The Physics, Common Market, J. Pinder, Grynch, Sol and more.

“These interviews will give an in depth look at a burgeoning hip hop scene in Seattle that has yet to break into the national mainstream. See the other ‘not so glamorous’ side of artists lives as we follow them into their homes, studios, backstage, and on national tours. Experience everything from the daily struggles and obstacles, to the triumphs and successes these artists face as they reach for stardom.”

The documentary will tackle many hip hop stereotypes surrounding race, gender, drug addiction and more, the page explains.

Although all of the footage needed for the documentary appears to be compiled, M.A.D. is seeking funds to cover their post-production, duplication and distribution costs.

The company has a goal of raising $15,000 by March 17. So far, they’ve raised $4,371. Those who back the project are offered a myriad of incentives, ranging from periodic updates on the project ($1) to executive producer credits on the film and first-class plane tickets to Seattle for the film’s debut ($10,000).

To donate or read more about the project, visit “The Otherside”‘s KickStarter page. Watch the project’s trailer below.