Little Brother Album: “Minstrel Show”

Little Brother seems to have made it from a success standpoint. The once obscure group that lived and died by shows and the internet buzz scored a major label contract after "The Listening" turned heads from Hip-Hop's finest including The Roots, Pete Rock and Jay-Z. Fans have not only been eagerly awaiting this album for its musical content, but to see if the self proclaimed children of the "golden era of hip-hop" would stick to their guns or fall victim of compromising towards the commercial lure of rap. Lucky for us, not only did the group stay true to themselves with The Minstrel show, but they've used their new found success to do more than just make you nod your head.

The concept of The Minstrel show is beautiful. Programmed around the fictional UBN Network, the skits play into stereotypes while the music attempts to break them. There's no direct dissing or name calling (aside from the hilarious R. Kelly & Mr. Biggs parody "Cheatin") and no trace of beef, which has become the industry standard publicity stunt. What's truly inspirational about the album is that Little Brother does not just talk a lot about raising the consciousness and demanding quality hip-hop, only to simply sit on their asses and do nothing about it. No... they actively challenge everyone in the game to step up through their album concept, lyrics and music. If nothing else, Little Brother should be applauded for making an album with a commendable purpose.

But the fact is, no matter how ingenious the concept works, if the music ain't top-notch the message will get lost and become meaningless. While I never feared Pooh or Phonte wouldn't step up (they both improved massively over the course of solo efforts and guest spots) one of my major fears was that 9th Wonder's production had been too diluted. His previous effort with Buckshot (Chemistry) was when I first started noticing some mediocre beats. A couple of tracks here and there had me wondering if 9th was maybe getting burnt out. Fans can sigh with relief because it's obvious now that he was merely saving his best for The Minstrel Show.

Although words cannot give these songs their proper due, an attempt should be made. The outstanding sample lead "Beautiful Morning" is a great start to the album, a great preview but only a glimpse of what is to come. "The Becoming" has Phonte breaking down the tale of his rise with Little Brother ("I went from ni**s telling me I really shouldn't rhyme/ to dropping a classic album muthaf****rs couldn't find./ Took my respect, took lessons and took the time/ and if you want a success story just take a look at mine.") Experiences in record industry get aired out in "Not Enough". The production is sick here as 9th uses an obscure sample of some guy breathing to the track (Gives Primo's beat for "Come Clean" a run for most random sample). The Elzhi (of Slum Villiage) blessed "Hiding Place" is a classic and personal favorite from the album. Lyrically stunning, the flow of each in the trio is perfect with the amazing production. "Slow it Down" is an ode to relationships and is another highlight, Phonte's verse is so introspective on the nature of men that it'll have even the most foolish cats saying "damn." "Say it Again" is a familiar fun loving track ("I'm overweight, raps are fat to death/ Obese when these beats catch wind in my breath.")

The single "Lovin' It" is simply stunning... production wise it's easily one of 9th's best efforts and each emcee rips the mic. Don't be surprised if it instantly becomes your favorite track from the group ever. The duo laments their family issues again on the album, this time through the mouthpiece of "All for You." Phonte's verse gets about as revealing and personal as they come. "Watch Me" features the only song not produced by 9th, but you wouldn't know the difference due to Khrysis spot on beat. As an added bonus we've got Jazzy Jeff scratching the last part of the track. (Side comment: Perhaps the only thing that limits 9th from being truly great is that he always has to get others to do his scratches for him... he'd be the complete package otherwise.) "Sincerely Yours" allows for some cheap shots at Pooh only setting him up shine and once again squash doubt from haters (as if he didn't prove himself with "Sleepers"??). As the crew paid their respects to Pete Rock at the end of "The Listening," Little Brother does it again with their obvious dedication to Tribe Called Quest with "Still Lives Through." Finally they get a well deserved encore for the WNBA mocking yet appropriately titled "We Got Now."

The guests are limited, but solid each time. Elzhi's verse is incredible and Justice League members Joe Scudda and Chaundon prove they are easily the best from the extended crew. The skits and structure work masterfully as well. The way the life inspiring "Beautiful Morning" flows into "The Becoming" can't be understated. The way Joe Scudda's appearance is announced backstage, the phone call to a father, the concert inserts, the commercials, the way the announcers come in at the right time to keep the show concept going... its hand crafted as one cohesive album almost like no other I can remember in recent times (Price Paul would be more than proud). All the intangibles are here.

My only complaint is that the ending to the album was not nearly as powerful at the title track was for "The Listening". That's a minor personal observation, but it really doesn't faze me all that much, because pound for pound The Minstrel Show is the better album. Each member of the crew sounds infinitely more polished in every aspect. It's so good I cannot believe this album is only 53 min long. Because it's so enjoyable (skits and tracks alike) the repeated listening factor makes it seems much longer than it is.

The only thing The Minstrel Show really has left to stand up to is time. Who knows how the sound will fare months or years down the road. Who knows how well the concept will motivate hip-hop. If either of those hold up as time goes on, you can beat you're listening to a classic right now. But, regardless you cannot deny the sure genius of it. Maybe it won't be a classic in your book, but I can guarantee right now it'll be a classic in mine... but in breaking this down too much I've already gone against what the purpose The Minstrel Show should serve. As Phonte declares: "If ya'll feeling this, ya'll ain't gotta anaylize it/ This sh*t is dope and we ain't changing up" Truth be told: this IS dope! And with that, I'll just shut up and get back to the listening.

Ok, I was looking online and searching for lists' of best albums of 2005, 2004, etc. And I kept on seeing this album, The Minstrel Show, on almost every list. I had never heard of Little Brother, but I was interested to hear their album. Then I heard there single Lovin It, and I immediately got hooked on it. So I checked Amazon's reviews to see if it really was a good album, and I saw 26 five stars in a row! I was intrigued by the average of 5 stars, so I bought the album. The next thing I know, my hip hop mind was in a daze! I was totally amazed by the lyrical depth and intelligence of this group. Not just that, the beats by 9th Wonder were some of the best I have heard in a long time. This group should be #1 on the charts, but they didn't make rhymes about hoochie mamas and sex, so they didn't get much radio play. On this album, Little Brother repeatedly mocks the fact that they are extremely underrated and aren't selling millions because they didn't sellout. The lyrics really reminded me that there still are a couple of rappers out there with half a brain. And every song on this album is seriously a great song, the beats are crazy. I haven't heard beats like this sonce the early 90s. The beats aren't like, Boom Boom Bang, Boom Boom Bang! They are so soulful and so deep. It's just beautiful. 9th Wonder is now one of my favorite producers. Anyways, as I said, every song on here is just so special, but my top 5 are:

1. Lovin It

2. We Got Now

3. Sincerely Yours

4. All For You

5. Not Enough

Those are my favorite 5, but I wouldn't mind having any other song on the album on that list. Their music is so positive, and they are trying to excel this rap game to something so much bigger and better than guns, and b*tches. It doesn't really bother me that these guys aren't platinum or whatever, because I know that true mc talent doesn't mean billboards and record sells, because if it did these guys would be on top. This album was a complete soundtrack of my life in the year of 2005, and I was just taken back to the years of truly beautiful hip hop. If you get this album, the same will probably happen to you. Just look at all the other reviews, they all were pretty satisfied with this album. You will be too.

As a fan of rap music, I was first introduced to rap music by rap acts like The Fat Boys, Whodini, Kurtis Blow, RUN DMC, LL Cool J & Eric B & Rakim. However, groups like Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy & EPMD ended up being my favorite rap groups of that time, although RUN DMC's "Raising Hell" and Eric B & Rakim's "Paid In Full" are certified classics in my opinion. In my high school years, no group hit me like A Tribe Called Quest did. Eventhough, I was a late bloomer to A Tribe Called Quest by hearing "The Low End Theory" before I heard "People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm". For some reason, I was floored by the smooth MC styles of Q Tip & Phife and the production of Ali Shaheed Muhammad. It was clear that Q Tip was a better MC than Phife but the way their styles were mixed together with the nice, rhythmic beats of Ali Shaheed Muhammad I became a quick fan of A Tribe Called Quest.

My old roomate went to Howard's homecoming in 2005 and he was telling me while he was there that alot of people were talking about a group called Little Brother. Of course, I had no idea of who he was talking about but I decided that I would ask some of my boys from high school who followed music like I did. One of them was amazed that I never heard of Little Brother, but all he told me was that you need to go pick up "The Minstrel Show".

As I listened to "The Minstrel Show" I became very impressed by what I was hearing. I later came to know the group as Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh and 9th Wonder, who I was somewhat familiar with since I know that he produced "Threat" from Jay Z's "Black Album" and I know he had production credits on Memphis Bleek's "534" CD and on Destiny Child's "Destiny Fulfilled" CD.

As a rap music fan it is hard for me not to compare Little Brother to A Tribe Called Quest. I see Phonte as Q-Tip, Rapper Big Pooh as Phife and 9th Wonder as Ali Shaheed Muhammad. When Phife was rapping in the group alot of people saw him as the weakest link just as people see Rapper Big Pooh. Regardless of how you feel about that, Little Brother as a group has unlimited potential.

"Lovin' It" is the 1st single off "The Minstrel Show" and is my favorite track on this CD. The track also features Joe Scudda. 9th Wonder samples "One Night Affair" by The Stylistics to perfection and Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh and Joe Scudda take care of the rest. I can definitely see why 9th Wonder is in demand as a producer just off this one track alone. "Beautiful Morning" starts the CD off after the intro to "The Minstrel Show" and to the UBN Network. Little Brother cleverly end the song to begin the next track with a different beat. That track ends up being "The Becoming". On "Not Enough", Little Brother is venting about not being accepted by radio stations and people in general. Darien Brockington shows up on the hook for this track and on the hook on another one of my favorite songs on "The Minstrel Show", "Slow It Down". "Slow It Down" falls right in line with classic Tribe hip hop love songs like "Bonita Applebum" and "Electric Relaxation". Phonte even takes things deeper by saying that he wants a girl when he wants a girl and when he doesn't want a girl that he wants a girl to understand that. However, he understands how it would be hard for a woman to deal with a situation like that, especially if she is in love and has deep feelings for him. It's as if Phonte is saying he may want to deal with some things that occur in a relationship but he knows that the long road could be a good one or a bad one, which is why he just wants to avoid anything serious. Another one of my favorite tracks on this CD is "Hiding Place" as Elzhi from Slum Village joins in on the fun this time around. 9th Wonder provides the head nodding track and Rapper Big Pooh, Elzhi and Phonte all have nice verses on the track. 9th Wonder uses a nice sample on the laidback track "Say It Again" and once again the lyrics are on point as well. "All For You" gives Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte a chance to vent about missed opportunities growing up without their father in their lives. Darien Brockington shows up to do a good job on the hook again as well. "Watch Me" is one of the few tracks that 9th Wonder doesn't produce. However, the quality of production stays the same and the lyrics are still high quality as well. Phonte shuts things down as soon as he starts rapping with "Ain't no need in getting teary eyed, Tay's the illest, point blank period". He stretches the word period to make it rhyme better with eyed. Rapper Big Pooh shuts all the naysayers up with his solo track, "Sincerely Yours". As you listen to "The Minstrel Show" it's clear that Phonte is the better MC, but Rapper Big Pooh holds his own as well, as he shows on this track. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better here comes "Still Lives Through" which instantly reminded me of "God Lives Through" from A Tribe Called Quest from their "Midnight Marauders" CD. This is more of a tribute track in my opinion but "Still Lives Through" still ends up being one of my favorite tracks on this CD. After closing things out on the "Minstrel Show Closing Theme", Little Brother ends things on a good note with Chaundon on "We Got Now".

Overall, it's clear that "The Minstrel Show" is a concept album. However, as a music fan I am always going to look at the quality of songs, regardless of the interludes and concepts. If you take a long look at "The Minstrel Show" then you have a classic CD in my opinion. Little Brother may feel that they don't get the respect that they deserve, which is obviously true, however, they have definitely gained 1 new fan in the Musicman. I also picked up "The Chittlin Circuit" and "The Listening" but I'll have to wait to listen to those once I am tired of "The Minstrel Show" which may be never.

If you are a fan of A Tribe Called Quest and you don't want to hear about grillz, how much money you have to have or trappin', then this is the group for you in 2006 and you should definitely purchase "The Minstrel Show" and get familiar with Little Brother's discography. Don't get me wrong, though, I also enjoy the Down South music scene as well. However, this is a nice release to the early days of my hip hop experience just like Common's "Be" album was.

James' Top 5

1) Lovin' It w/Joe Scudda

2) Still Lives Through

3) Hiding Place w/Elzhi from Slum Village

4) Slow It Down

5) Beautiful Morning

I'm serious... when something is missing from a music genre, and it seems to come back out of nowhere (Carolina, no misrespect), you are hit in the face by surprise. You get so excited that you lose it. I bought the CD off of the internet momentum created by the backpackers and after listening to "Lovin' It". However, this isn't my favorite track. The flip between tracks 2 and 3 had me like, "WTF?" All of their music has a gritty realism that many of the Native Tongue groups brought in the 90's. To pick a favorite track... I would be lying. This is classic disc that may have a track that you hold personally based on your mood of the day.

It took me a few listens to realize it, but this album doesn't even miss a beat. It's that good. From the opening intro to the last track, The Minstrel Show remains humble, yet it stays incredible. Big Pooh is quite solid and brings a lot to the table, but Phonte has convinced me that he's one of the tightest emcees out at the moment. Every last song is filled with memorable or quotable lyrics. And it certainly doesn't hurt when one-third of your group is the 9th Wonder, who combines New York style boom-bap drums with powerful soul samples to create some VERY impressive beats. Fruity Loops users around the world - rejoice!

Cop this album because hip-hop hasn't sounded this good in a while. Take it from me - a kid who completely slept on The Listening when it dropped. Dope beats, dope rhymes, and no gimmicky concepts; just down-to-earth lyrics straight from the heart, and utmost honesty. Forget comparing them to A Tribe Called Quest, because Little Brother is definitely coming into their own.