Before he won an Oscar for Moonlight and even before he stole our hearts as House of Cards’ Remy Danton, Mahershala Ali rapped under the moniker Prince Ali. And he was good. Ali released a mixtape called Corner Ensemble in 2006 and an album titled Curb Side Service in 2007. According to his Spotify artist bio, Prince Ali came to fruition after the Oscar-winner graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and founded Eye5 Recordings in 2006. Ali’s love of music is still present in his acting: He makes individual playlists for every character he plays (“They help focus me very quickly, almost like a meditation. It especially helps if you’re working on a couple of things,†he told the Guardian). Wait … so Ali is an actor who can also rap — is there an EGOT in his future? We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Listen to more of Ali’s pre-Moonlight bars below.
Long Before Moonlight, Mahershala Ali Rapped As Prince Ali — And He Was Good
