For those unaware, Little Brother began with 9th Wonder on the beats with Big Pooh and Phonte on the rhymes. Little Brother is a part of a bigger collective called the Justus League which includes 8 emcees, 5 producers, 1 DJ, and 1 consultant. They’re based in North Carolina and have been putting out dope music since the early 2000’s. To get you started on this playlist, we have to start with Little Brother’s album, The Listening which dropped in 2003. 9th was making his beats on a computer program called Fruity Loops and the hip hop purists back then shunned him for not using the normal equipment that producers use. Now, I’d imagine that 99% of producers are using computer programs. 9th was at the forefront with this movement in my opinion. Here’s “Whatever You Say” from the album, The Listening.
The Listening was critically acclaimed by the hip hop world for the jazzy influence and soul samples that created such a dope vibe. Big Pooh and Phonte were emcees you could relate to and 9th laced them with beats for days. After The Listening dropped, the group followed up the release with the Chitlin Circuit mixtape in 2005 before their true follow up album. Chitlin Circuit contained unreleased songs and remixes from 9th. The highlight for me was the “Nighttime Maneuvers Remix” which was oh so smooth.
During the ascension of Little Brother, 9th was starting to get looks from musicians outside of his North Carolina crew which included the likes of Jay-Z. I remember seeing 9th’s name on the credits for Jigga’s Black Album for the song “Threat” and I felt it was such a major win for the underground rap scene. I had so much pride knowing that 9th from Little Brother was producing for Jay now. 9th was helping bridge the gap from underground to the mainstream. Great background on it here.
It wasn’t only 9th that was catching people’s attention though. Little Brother’s track “I See Now” with Kanye created some buzz on the underground hip hop scene and you were literally starting to see the lines between underground and mainstream blurred with these collaborations. This track can’t be found on the DSP’s but luckily it’s still here on YouTube to go back and vibe too. 9th on the beat…. Phonte, Big Pooh, Kanye, and Consequence on the rhymes. Hip hop excellence here.
Little Brother’s 2nd full length album, The Minstrel Show dropped in 2005 and 9th had clearly taken his production to another level. But so did Phonte and Pooh. The sound was cleaner, the verses were tighter, and you could tell that they were mad at the industry for the politics that most fans know nothing about. While trap rap was getting pushed to the masses, artists like Little Brother failed to get the major push because of their conscious/positive lyrics. But they were a breath of fresh air for boom bap heads like me. Here’s “Lovin’ It” from the album with Joe Scudda killing his feature while Phonte and Pooh did their thing as usual. And this beat by 9th??? Damn….. Perfection.
I don’t think anybody saw their collaboration with DJ Drama coming after The Minstrel Show. DJ Drama was everywhere around the time but he definitely wasn’t working with underground hip hop dudes like Little Brother. I remember when the Separate But Equal mixtape first dropped and it was hype. The Drama adlibs and playbacks were a little much but that was his steez and it likely brought a lot of new Little Brother fans to the mix. Thank god the Drama free version existed because I just need to get right to the songs without any delays. I have to include 2 songs from this mixtape. One is “Let It Go” with the Mighty Mos Def which was a dream collab for hip hop heads around the world. I loved all 3 verses but Pooh stole the show on this with his cadence. So much passion.
But man…. When “Speed Racing” hit??? This was my first real introduction to Skyzoo and Chaundon and this posse cut was everything I need from guest features on an album. Great verses, great chorus, great beat.
Following the Separate But Equal mixtape, Little Brother left Atlantic Records and 9th left the group over creative differences. But the Little Brother movement with Phonte and Pooh didn’t slow down for one second. Their album, Getback was released in 2007 and included one beat from 9th but then production from a wide range of producers including Illmind, Khrysis, Mr. Porter, Hi-Tek, and more. They had a Lil Wayne feature which surprised me when I heard that Weezy was a big fan of Little Brother. If I have to pick one song to feature, it has to be “Dreams” which had Rashid Hadee on production. Absolute fire.
2007 saw the release of their next mixtape, And Justice For All. This mixtape introduced me to dope rappers like Oddisee and Von Pea from Tonya Morgan. It also showed me that Phonte and Pooh would probably go out on their own as solo artists in the near future. I saw the writing on the wall with the closing track of the mixtape, “Next Day” which was Phonte and only Phonte. These emcees were both so dope in their own right.
Phonte also had Foreign Exchange going with Nicolay which was groundbreaking. They dropped Connected in 2004 which featured Nicolay sending Phonte beats from the Netherlands and Phonte laying his vocals over them. Some rap, some R&B… all a vibe that was loved by fans. This type of cross-continental collaboration happens on the regular today but back then? The concept was so foreign. There were beats being sent through the mail from Netherlands to North Carolina. Takes me back to the days when our elementary schools had pen pal programs set up which was so cool to experience as a youngster.
At this point I probably got all out of chronological order but f*ck it…. I’m gonna keep going. So now you know that Kanye and Weezy were already up on Little Brother. But did you know about Drake? Drake was a big fan of Little Brother so it was only right that he got them on a track with him and Dwele.
And let’s not forget that Comeback Season mixtape track with Drizzy, Phonte, and Elzhi over a 9th Wonder beat. Drake, since I’m sure you are reading this, can we at least get “Think Good Thoughts” on the DSP’s? The hip hop heads need it on their boom bap playlists.
And Big Pooh’s album with Apollo Brown on the beats? Words Paint Pictures from 2015 is mad slept on. That album absolutely knocks and Pooh and Apollo is a great pairing. Shout out to Mellow Music Group! Here’s “Augmentation” where Pooh is in the pocket on the rhymes, delivery, and that fire snapback game. Grizzlies in the house!
So at some point I gotta wrap this up but I could honestly go on and on about Little Brother’s impact on hip hop. 9th, Phonte, and Big Pooh are legends. I had to drop something about them on my blog and build a playlist for fans of their sound. I remember getting The Listening in the mail right when it dropped and I’m still here in my 40’s checking for new releases, features, and when I see 9th on production credits on albums. Fan for life. Props to the OG Little Brother crew!
