00:00When you hit the stage, you came with this mysterious vibe. It was like, whoa.
00:08It was honestly a very difficult time. A lot of times when we were filming,
00:13with the weather, the change in weather, the lack of sleep, not eating until eight hours on the set
00:20after there's been 10 to 12 hours of filming. Every challenge, I was nervous, but I knew that
00:27I was going to make it through. Y'all ain't about to bring me down here to go home again.
00:34What is up, GU? It is your content editor, Danielle Wright here, and we are at the Essence office,
00:39and I am here with the lovely, the talented, the beautiful Sura Ali.
00:45How are you? How are you doing today? I'm good. How are you? I'm so good, and I'm so happy
00:51to have
00:51you here and to get to know you a little bit behind the show. So let's take it to the
00:56beginning.
00:57So I have to know, what was it like growing up before you became this renowned Sura Ali?
01:03Well, I grew up in Bestie, Brooklyn. I done traveled to other places to live, like Mississippi,
01:11Harlem, Dykeman, Lincoln Projects, that's a home too. So I done been to a lot of different places in
01:20New York City, but I'm Brooklyn-bred Bestie, and I became Sura Ali. Well, I've always been myself,
01:27obviously, but going through shit, the traumatic things that I've gone through that made me feel
01:35like I didn't really have a voice. So I had to find that. I had to cultivate it because I
01:41wasn't
01:41getting treated fairly in the house I grew up in, so. Yeah, because I know one of the things that
01:48we obviously see from you on season two of Netflix's Rhythm and Flow is that you're deep
01:55into poetry. So let's talk about that journey a little bit of like, when did you start getting
02:00into poetry? How have you grown? Like, what does it do for you as you transcend into music?
02:06Well, my mom and my dad, they were both poets. So it's really in my DNA. But I started really
02:14in
02:15college when I was a part of the Black Student Union. Again, unfair treatment, you know, that made
02:22me feel like I needed to have a voice. And during that time, it was a lot of, you know,
02:27it was a lot
02:28of police brutality going on. So Freddie Gray, you got Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin really, really,
02:35really affected me as if I knew him. You know, I just felt so connected to that situation that I
02:42felt like I had to speak about it. And from then, I just kept doing poetry. But because it's so
02:49natural
02:49to me, I can talk to you right now and it'll sound like a poem. Yeah. So it really just
02:56comes to me.
02:56You have this like very effortless like vibe to you for sure. I had to ask, like, what do you
03:03think
03:03is the key to cultivating a good piece of poetry? It really, I said before, if you see on the
03:12episode when Ludacris is talking about what his preference is, you know? So it's really about
03:19preference. It can be subjective. Art is subjective. So I think that all poetry is good. I think that you
03:27can get a piece out of anything because you're speaking on how you feel.
03:31We have poets like yourself that really take us there and, you know, offer us a vision into
03:37what exactly is the passion behind your words. But then we also have poets that sound like,
03:43what are you even talking about? So like, what is like the key to poetry of like getting your point
03:49across but like not doing too much? I do spoken word. So there's all different types of poetry.
03:54You got haikus. You have short poems. You have family poems. You have poems that speak on people's
04:02autobiography. Literally, it could be a history lesson in the poem. So like I said, it's subjective.
04:08It's really up to you. Me, I have a preference when it comes to poetry. I like spoken word. I
04:13like
04:13things that make me feel, that make me feel deeply. That's why when I curate my Black Like Me,
04:19my live event series for Black artists and Black artists like to come and connect
04:23and express their traumas and their stories and their successes through their talents,
04:31through poetry, through rap, through singing. I choose because I have a preference. So it's
04:38really up to you. Yeah. I don't like to knock nobody's talents or what they're trying to accomplish
04:44or do just because of my preference, you know? Yeah. Love it. Love it.
04:49So I think this is a really good segue into music. So when was the defining moment that you were
04:55like,
04:56you know what, I want to take my work and, you know, become a rapper and put some music behind
05:03it?
05:05Well, people say that spoken word is similar to battle rap. So it was, I feel like it was an
05:11easy
05:11transition. I definitely don't rap as good as I do now back then. Okay. But I just took a chance
05:19with
05:19it. And all my friends were saying, oh, you can rap. You should do it. You should do it. And
05:23then I just
05:24kept practicing. What was your first single? And how do you feel like you've grown since then?
05:31My first single was Very Hot. Y'all can look that up on old streaming platforms.
05:35Very Hot is still a fave of mine. It's classic. I made that like seven, eight years ago and people
05:43still hit me up about that track specifically. The only thing that I've improved on in terms of music
05:50is how quick I can write, how I can pick up on certain errors that the engineer probably made,
05:58or I know the language now for the things that I need to accomplish. But that's thanks to Netflix though.
06:04Okay. And I'm glad you brought that up because we have to get into rhythm and flow. So I think
06:10one of
06:10the major questions that people want to know is like, what is the process to getting on the show?
06:16Like, how did you hear about it to be able to audition?
06:19I first auditioned in 2019 and they hit me up before the pandemic happened and said that they want me
06:25to
06:25do another audition because one of the judges, like they really had to say so. And if you proceed to
06:35the next round or not, and I just feel like it was divine timing because I rap better now and
06:41I'm
06:42stronger now than I was before. And I just have more support. So it was the right time to do
06:49it during
06:51this year. I mean, last year, as opposed to 2019. So they reached out to me. They usually have scouts
06:58that look for, you know, artists that are making a name or that, that they have interest in. I don't
07:08know how they found some of the people. They have people from New Orleans. They have people from Atlanta.
07:13They got people from Houston. And I've never heard of those people before until we all got together.
07:20So somebody somewhere is doing the scouting to get people on.
07:26Got it. Got it. So when you officially auditioned and were like, you're going to the next round,
07:31like what was going through your head? Like what was going through your mind?
07:34Every challenge, I was nervous, but I knew that I was going to make it through.
07:39Like, I just knew, like, I ain't about to bring me down here to go home again and been there,
07:45done that. So I knew it.
07:48Yeah. And speaking of the challenges, because, you know, you literally made it all the way to the end.
07:53What challenge was your favorite and why?
07:56My favorite challenge was the singles.
07:59Okay.
07:59My theme song that I made, R&F, Rhythm and Flow. I got to work with great producers for that.
08:05People that I never met or heard of before, but they were able to capture my sound.
08:11And I was able to show my talents without them giving me a beat that, yeah, it just doesn't go
08:18with a lot of our flows.
08:19And that's what was happening a lot to a lot of people.
08:22That isn't, those beats that was used before the singles round, that wasn't our choice.
08:29And a lot of us would have never used those beats. So that was my favorite challenge.
08:34I love it. Yeah. It has, it was definitely a pleasure watching you on that show.
08:38I think that you definitely brought something different that the other cast members were not bringing.
08:45You know, I think y'all are all very talented and unique in different ways.
08:48But it was like, when you hit the stage, you came with this, like, mysterious, like, vibe.
08:57It was like, whoa, like, and you know, it's so funny because, like, when you hit the stage, like, we
09:01knew you were coming because you was ready.
09:04Like, it was like, post it up. Like, I really love seeing all of your performances.
09:08So speaking of the show, there was one moment that had social media in a frenzy, which was the underground
09:14rap battle between Detroit Diamond and Donald.
09:17And I have to ask you your opinion. Who do you think won?
09:21Because I feel like there was so many different aspects to it from Detroit Diamond, like, hyping up the crowd.
09:28But then Donald was, like, really, like, hitting it.
09:31So, like, what do you think, like, wins ultimately in a rap battle?
09:35I think that people got to remember that it's TV.
09:39So it's going to go based off people's storyline sometime.
09:42We were in Detroit. Why would they send home Detroit Diamond? We were in Hush City, you know?
09:48I think that both of them did good.
09:50Initially, I felt like Donald was supposed to win it.
09:53And then I rewatched it again, and I was like, oh, well, they both did good.
09:56But like I said, my initial pick was Donald.
09:59Yeah.
10:00So I agree with you, too, because the first time I saw it, I was very confused by the winner.
10:07And I was like, wait a minute.
10:10And then I had to, like, replay it.
10:12So you're right.
10:12I think that they both brought something different to that rap battle.
10:17I still think Donald should have won.
10:19But, you know, I get it.
10:21I get it.
10:22You said earlier that you improved by being on the show.
10:28So were there any moments that the judges, you know, gave you a critique?
10:32Or was there any moment when you were by yourself that you were like, wow, like, I'm really leveling up
10:37my skills just being here?
10:39No, I didn't realize that while I was there.
10:41It was honestly a very difficult time.
10:46A lot of times when we were filming with the weather, the change in weather, the lack of sleep, not
10:53eating until eight hours on the set after there's been 10 to 12 hours of filming.
10:59So I didn't know that while I was there.
11:02I didn't realize until I got back and I started making music and stuff.
11:06Like, I always had to rush or be on a time schedule, a time limit.
11:11Like, oh, you have four hours to make a beat and then come up with a track.
11:15You'll only be back in the studio for one more day and then the next day you have to perform.
11:20So, yeah.
11:22Yeah, it was intense.
11:24I think sometimes intense situations really do bring, like, a side of people that they didn't know that they had.
11:30And I definitely saw your growth from the beginning all the way to the end of the show.
11:36For sure.
11:36So I loved it.
11:37So getting outside of the show a little bit.
11:39So you are literally born, bred, and repped the mecca of hip-hop.
11:45What do you think is missing within this genre right now?
11:48And how do you fill that void?
11:52What do I think is missing?
11:54I don't think it's missing anything.
11:55Because you got different genres of rap.
11:57If people were still focused on where hip-hop started, then there wouldn't be no, what's the word?
12:06It wouldn't be enhanced or it wouldn't be shifted or it wouldn't be changed.
12:10I like New York music and I do like L.A. music.
12:16I mean, I listen to all music because it's pushed on me and I'm listening to the radio.
12:21But I think that hip-hop has everything that it needs.
12:23I just think that some people that are starting to try their rap journey now in their late 20s and
12:32early 30s, I think that they should try to do something else.
12:35Because I don't think that rap means that.
12:38So winding down in our interview, what can we look forward to, Su-Ra, in 2025?
12:42So, like I stated before, I curate a Black Like Me, an event space for Black artists and Black artists
12:49alike.
12:50So I'm going to North Carolina to do a travel show over there.
12:54I'm taking Black Like Me on tour.
12:56Cool.
12:56I'm going to go to Atlanta and I'm going to go to L.A. because a lot of places that,
13:01after the show, I traveled a lot.
13:03Like I just went to go tapping with a lot of the other artists, check in with them, make sure
13:08that I kept my connections with them, you know?
13:12And that's one thing.
13:14Second thing is, of course, the music, you know, albums, tapes.
13:18I'm going to come out with a three-song EP.
13:21I already have an EP out called Ali the Tape, and that has five songs on it.
13:27It gives very New York.
13:29What else?
13:30Oh, yeah.
13:31And hopefully I'll be in Essence Fest this year, too.
13:34Love it.
13:35With more things like BET and Disney World and stuff like that.
13:39Love it.
13:39Anything.
13:40Su-Ra to the moon.
13:41Literally.
13:42Ali for president.
13:44Love it.
13:45Well, thank you so much, Su-Ra, for being here today.
13:48And Su-Ra, where can we find you on social media?
13:51Y'all can follow me on Instagram.
13:53Y'all can subscribe to my YouTube.
13:55Y'all can go on TikTok at the.su-Ra Ali.
13:59That's T-H-E dot S-U-R-A-L-I.
14:03And then y'all can find me, Su-Ra Ali, on all distribution platforms.
14:07Love it.
14:08Well, thank you, Su-Ra Ali, for being in the building today.
14:11And that's a wrap.
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