Ye Ali moved from the producer's chair into the spotlight with a solo style that combined R&B smoothness and rough-edged rap. A slow, steady drip of singles led to several mixtape series. In 2020 alone, he released Private Suite 3 and Traphouse Jodeci 2, both highlighting his hybrid R&B/rap sound.

Ali was born in Hammond, Indiana in 1988 in a strict Muslim home. Rap music was frowned upon in his household, so Ali's first brushes with music were listening to his father's modern country music selections. As a teenager, his tastes ran more toward radio-friendly R&B, but he was moved and fascinated after discovering Lil Wayne's Tha Carter II. During college, Ali had a casual interest in music and was on the fast track to a career in sports marketing, but legal troubles and a brief imprisonment left that option in jeopardy and he decided to pursue music production full-time instead. Beginning around 2012, he started blending his deep love and knowledge of R&B with his rap fixation, developing a style that was equal parts trap beats and Jodeci-inspired R&B grooves. He worked on productions for artists such as Bizzy Crook and Jazz Cartier, and eventually broke out on his own with solo singles like "Yours" and "Ring 4x." Throughout 2015 and 2016, he kept releasing tracks that he eventually compiled into mixtapes like Traphouse Jodeci and Private Suite mixtape, and he followed in 2017 with more singles, including the viral "Talk Less." The Private Suite concept was expanded into a series, with Private Suite 2 being released in 2019 and a slowed down remix collection Purple Suite arriving in 2020. Ali also released standalone album JODI, as well as Traphouse Jodeci 2 and a chopped companion album before rounding out 2020 with the release of the heavily R&B focused Private Suite 3. He continued working as a producer while prolifically releasing his own music. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi