Little Brother Album: “Listening”

For a minute, I slept on this. But until I got Nas - God's stepson ( 9th Wonder remixes ), I had to hear this. And this is way better. From beginning to end, Little Brother just holds it down. And they from North Carolina. The last place I would think real hip hop would come from. 9th Wonder's beats are amazing. Similar to Pete Rock but with his own twist. Mc's Phonte and Big Pooh are good as well. They definately deserve to rap over beats like these. I would name the good songs on this great album but I would be mentioning basically the whole tracklist, my favs are WHATEVER YOU SAY, SHORTY ON THE LOOKOUT, AWAY FROM ME, NIGHTTIME MANEUVERS, THE LISTENING, and my fav FOR YOU ( which I nominate to be beat of the year ). This album is almost too good. And no, they are not like A Tribe Called Quest. They are just Little Brother. For those seeking great production and good lyrics, get this album. You won't be sorry. Just wait for the sophomore album. That will be bangin' too.

In the words of DJ Premier, "The underground is like roaches, it will never die". This album is a breath of fresh air. These cats bringing the REAL HIP-HOP. I had to cop the album after hearing about Little Brother's producer, 9th Wonder, laying a track on Jay-Z's Black Album. This CD is hot! The beats on the album remind me of a mixture of A Tribe called Quest, Slum Village and Pete Rock/ CL Smooth. MCs Big Pooh and Phonte can rip the mic. I just cop this CD over a year ago and it's still in heavy rotation. This is the group to watch in the near future.

Best Track "For you" ( It's got a DJ Premier-like chopped loop)

I cannot stress enough how EVERYONE needs to find and buy this album. The last time I was this excited about a new hip hop artist was when I first heard The Roots....and before that, A Tribe Called Quest! These cats have single-handedly restored my faith in hip hop. "The Listening" is hip hop in it's purest essence....an album for the head, no experimentation, nothing like that. There's a great place for that, but it's almost like cats are ashamed to be hip hop now.

Little Brother is 9th Wonder, Big Pooh, and Phonte. 9th Wonder is the producer/dj, and Big Pooh and Phonte are the MCs. They are both nice, but Phonte has top 5 potential! This is one of those "no skip" albums, where you can listen to the whole thing straight through. Standout tracks include their love song "Whatever You Say," their thank you to the fans "The Way You Do It," the prophetically sad "The Listening," and the bittersweet "Away from Me"

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!

An absolutely quality album which deserves to be played loud and often.

Great soulful beats and really, really nice rhymes. If you're bored of the usual gangsta poop then i urge you to get this album. 3 years old but still fresher than most stuff I've heard recently.

I would liken this album to making love. The first time round's pretty good but it gets better and better each time (apart from them drunken moments when your vision's gone and you're sick over the girl and it all gets messy, she asks you to leave and you bump into her dad on the way out and he asks you what you're doing there as he specifically told you never to come round again and to leave his daughter alone)

Anyway...it's great.

BUY IT.

GET THIS ALBUM RIGHTNOW YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY, If I could give it more stars I would. This is what Hip-Hop music is suppose to be like. This is the most complete Hip-Hop album since the Blueprint. The North Carolina trio of Emcees Phonte and Big Pooh and producer 9th Wonder have created a CLASSIC in the same vein of Tribe's Midnight Marauders. There name is like a metaphor that's means there the Little Brother to Native Tongue and other true emcees. Big Pooh and Phonte spit crisp, pure rhymes throughout the LP. Especially on tracks like Speed, Whatever You Say, The Yo-Yo which got a Hip-Hop quotable in The Source a few months back. If you like A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, etc you'll Love this group. 9th Wonder is a great producer and he's gonna be mentioned with the best before it's all over with. I first heard of the group because 9th Wonder did a mix CD called 9th invented the remix, where his put his beats behinds the acapellas of Nas (2nd childhood), Ghostface ( I'll never be the same again) and more. 9th also remixed Nas' God's Son (God's Step-Son). This is a Clean-House album that can be played straight through skippin' no tracks, even the Roy Lee skit is bangin'. Again Thank you to Little Brother For giving me faith in Hip-Hop again and to Whiz for puttin' me on to the Listening.