April 18, 2006 @ 11:06 am

Little Brother - From the School Yard to the Minstrel Show

by: Elle Castro

North Carolina rap trio, Little Brother, has been on the grind since their college days on the campus of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) back in '99. NCCU’s “yard” was the meeting place for Phonte Coleman, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder. Now, seven years later, these three are still rocking together and making good music that’s gratifying to a universal hip hop audience.

With strong beliefs and an eternal desire to create meaningful music, Little Brother started recording tracks that were, according to them, self-fulfilling. The group wholeheartedly aims to makes music filled with intense passion. “Even if we were told when we were making The Listening that we wouldn’t make a dime off of it, we still would have made it for ourselves,” explains Phonte. “The love for making music is the foundation behind what we make.”

It’s this same method that L.B. applied when they dropped their debut ABB Records classic joint, The Listening. “We make the type of music that’s for [other] artists. The general public really aren’t fans of music per say, they’re just fans of songs,” says Phonte. “The average general public doesn’t have an intense passion for music the way an artist has the passion. So if the public don’t hear on the radio, then they’re not going to know Little Brother.”

right It was after they released The Listening that hip hop listeners started paying close attention to their talent. Group member 9th Wonder actually branded himself as one of the illest producers in the game. 9th is best known for his work on Jay-Z’s The Black Album (“Threats”) and on Destiny’s Child Destiny Fulfilled (“Girl”).

Known for his drums, 9th sticks to a more soulful feel when making music. It’s this same heavy thump sound that is very addictive for rappers Phonte and Big Pooh. It’s the love for the richness in the music that has kept the Raleigh-Durham area group afloat in the game after so many years.

Little Brother follows this same suit when making music in general. After The Listening gained a following, L.B. built a serious buzz on the underground rap scene. It was so much so that it peaked the interest of Atlantic Records A&Rs and executives. A year after the release of The Listening, L.B. signed a major deal with them.

In September 2005, Little Brother released their premiere album on Atlantic Records: The Minstrel Show. Their first single off of their sophomore offering, “Lovin’ It,” didn’t get spins or airplay as much as most people felt it deserved, but this won’t stop L.B. from doing what they do.

“You can have more [material objects] than everything but at the end of the day the success comes not from the perks of the job, but from just being able to do the job,” confesses Phonte. “The job is benefiting itself, so if my career ended today, I’d feel like I went out with a bang - n*ggas dropped two classic albums!”

Yet to date, the group still hasn’t achieved the level of success and recognition that is well overdue. The Minstrel Show takes a closer look at the current state of hip hop and what artists have to go through in order to have label support on an album. Phonte Coleman and Big Pooh are innovators and continue to push their music to new heights.

Aside from putting out two albums, both Phonte and Big Pooh also have solo projects out. In 2004, Phonte recorded The Foreign Exchange with Nicolay, a producer from the Netherlands. The two met on Okayplayer.com, exchanged music via the internet and still haven’t met in person to date.

In February 2005, Pooh released Sleepers. But, when it’s time to handle B-I, the two come together and create magic as they did on the Khrysis-produced “Watch Me” track off The Minstrel Show.

Currently, Little Brother just finished up their third tour promoting their latest release, and they have a new mixtape in stores with one of the hottest deejays out of the South, DJ Drama, titled The Aphilliates & Hall of Justus Presents DJ Drama & Little Brother: Separate but Equal. “It’s thirteen fresh, hard new tracks,” says Big Pooh.

Although LB hasn’t reached desired mainstream success yet, continue to watch for those Carolina boys to deliver exceptional lyrics over hot beats as they climb their way to the top.