Little Brother is an American hip hop duo from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

that consists of rappers

Phonte Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is currently of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother (revived in 2019 without producer 9th Wonder) and ...

and

Big Pooh Thomas Louis Jones III (born February 12, 1980), better known by his stage name Big Pooh (or Rapper Big Pooh), is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Bro ...

. DJ and producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s. Little Brother is highly regarded among hip hop fans and critics.

History

Early career and ''The Listening'' album

The individual members of the group, rappers

(Phonte Coleman), and

Rapper Big Pooh Thomas Louis Jones III (born February 12, 1980), better known by his stage name Big Pooh (or Rapper Big Pooh), is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Bro ...

(Thomas Jones), and DJ/producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. The group began as a trio. Little Brother were members of the North Carolina-based alternative hip hop collective,

Justus League The Justus League was a hip hop collective from North Carolina founded in 1999. The collective consists of a total of 15 members (8 emcees, 5 producers, 1 DJ, and 1 consultant aka "Minister of Opinion". The emcees are: Cesar Comanche, Chaundon ...

. In a February 2003 interview with ''MVRemix.com'', Phonte explained the origins of the group's name: The official debut for Little Brother came in August 2001 with their first recording, "Speed". According to 9th Wonder in an interview with Complex, another rapper Median was actually supposed to be on the track before they got a hold of Big Pooh: They continued to work the local,

Raleigh-Durham The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...

-area scene and were eventually signed by

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

ABB Records. In 2002, they released the

cult hit A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

7" single "Atari 2600", with lyrics centering on

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s. In 2003, the group released their first full-length studio album, '' The Listening'' to critical acclaim. National recognition for the group, and particularly 9th Wonder, came when

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

tapped 9th Wonder for the song "Threat", from his eighth studio album '' The Black Album''. Following the release of ''The Listening'', Little Brother opened for

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

-based

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

collective

Hieroglyphics Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

on the latter's '' Full Circle'' national tour.

''The Chittlin' Circuit 1.5'' mixtape

Little Brother's first commercially distributed "mixtape", which featured the song by

Consequence Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...

titled I See Now featuring

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, off of the album Take 'em To The Cleaners. Released on June 21, 2005 ahead of their sophomore album ''

The Minstrel Show ''The Minstrel Show'' is the second studio album by hip hop trio Little Brother. It followed the critical success of their 2003 debut, '' The Listening''. The album was highly anticipated and touted as a probable breakthrough for the group, e ...

''.

''The Minstrel Show'' album

Little Brother's second album, ''

'', released in September 2005, saw increased success for the group due to their raised popularity and praise for the album from critics. The album's theme compared present day rap music and the music industry to the

minstrel shows The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

of the late 19th century. A music video for the single, "Lovin' It" featuring Joe Scudda, was directed by Joey Boukadakis. In 2005, Little Brother became embroiled in a short-lived feud, when

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

's protégé Slick Pulla challenged the group to a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

after hearing an interview in which Phonte voiced some disapproval concerning "drug rap" and Young Jeezy's "snowman mascot". Little Brother did not respond, and instead, Phonte called Slick Pulla and the pair resolved the misunderstanding.

''Getback'' album and 9th Wonder's departure

In late 2006, Little Brother began recording their third album, and second for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, ''

Getback ''Getback'' is the third studio album from Little Brother, released on October 23, 2007. Eleven days prior, Phonte leaked the album himself to Okayplayer.com Details The group has confirmed the involvement of several outside producers, in addi ...

''. However, in January 2007, the group announced both their departure from Atlantic and that producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a The move from Atlantic was due to the commercial failure of ''

'', and creative differences over the group's future material.

said: The group's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Big Dho added that there were no "ill feelings towards their (Atlantic) company." The group's reason for the break from Atlantic and for 9th Wonder's departure was ultimately due to creative differences, but in both cases, the break and departure were described as amicable. As to 9th Wonder's departure from the group, Rapper Big Pooh was quoted as saying: On October 23, 2007 Little Brother released ''

'', the long-awaited follow-up to ''The Minstrel Show''. With no major video or radio airplay, ''Getback'' sold approximately 9,600 copies during its first week in stores and landed at No. 89 on the ''Billboard 200'' chart. The album consisted of 11 songs, and featured several guests, most notably

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

-based rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

. Lil Wayne had been a longtime fan of the group's work and was invited to rap on the third verse for "Breakin My Heart". Following the release of ''Getback'' in late 2007, Little Brother toured with

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based alternative hip hop artist

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

Dilated Peoples Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song " This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West. Better known in the UK, they reached t ...

. The remainder of 2007 found Little Brother working on becoming completely independent artists and putting out records on their own. Big Pooh told ''

L.A. Record ''L.A. Record'' is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In Mar ...

'' in an April 2008 interview that "For the next record, we definitely want ownership—the first record we'll have 100% ownership of."

''...And Justus For All'' mixtape

Following the release of ''Getback'', in mid-2008, Little Brother officially released their 2007

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

''...And Justus For All'' with DJ

Mick Boogie Mick Batyske, known by his stage name DJ MICK (also sometimes styled as MICK) and formerly Mick Boogie, is an American DJ and entrepreneur. He is an A-list DJ and spun private parties for celebrities including Kanye West, LeBron James, Jay-Z a ...

taking over production duties for the departed

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

.com'',

said: ''...And Justus For All'' featured 5 new songs as well as enhanced mastered versions of songs on their 2007 mixtape with DJ Mick Boogie. The CD version contained 5 new songs for the album and the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

version had 7 new songs. The iTunes version linked former groupmate 9th Wonder to the group with the single, "Black Light Special".

Individual member side-projects

Outside of Little Brother,

began a collaboration with

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-based producer Nicolay as the group

The Foreign Exchange The Foreign Exchange is an R&B/ electronica/ hip hop duo consisting of the American rapper/singer Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay. Musical career The pair initially made contact via message boards on Okayplayer.com and soon ...

, that ultimately resulted in the release of their debut album, ''

Connected Connected may refer to: Film and television * ''Connected'' (2008 film), a Hong Kong remake of the American movie ''Cellular'' * '' Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology'', a 2011 documentary film * ''Connected'' (2015 TV ...

'', in 2004. The Foreign Exchange released their follow-up album entitled '' Leave It All Behind'', in October 2008.

released a solo album entitled ''

Sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...

'' in 2005. In 2009, he released two albums, ''The Delightful Bars'', and ''Rapper's Delight''. In early 2010, Rapper Big Pooh released ''The Purple Tape'' mixtape as a free

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

. This mixtape featured Big Pooh rhyming over

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

-based producer Black Milk's instrumentals from a collection that used

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

'' Purple Rain'' album samples.

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

, Wale and

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

, as well as

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

artists such as

Sean Price Sean Duval Price (March 17, 1972August 8, 2015) was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock. Early life and educati ...

and

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. Her second album, ''Laila's Wisdom'' (2017), which was critically acclaimed, received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Album and Be ...

. 9th Wonder has produced entire, full-length studio albums for

Jean Grae Tsidi Ibrahim (born November 26, 1976), known professionally as Jean Grae (formerly What? What?), is an American rapper from Manhattan, New York City. Jean rose in the underground hip hop scene in New York City and has built an international f ...

(''

Jeanius ''Jeanius'' is the third studio album by American rapper Jean Grae. She worked on it with hip hop producer 9th Wonder and intended to release it in 2004, but the album Music leak, leaked prematurely and spawned various pirated versions of the unf ...

''),

Murs Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, ...

('' Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition,'' '' Murray's Revenge, Sweet Lord'' and '' The Final Adventure,'' just to name a few),

Buckshot A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired thro ...

(''

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

'' and '' The Formula''), as well as a remix album of

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

' '' God's Son'' entitled '' God's Stepson''.

''Leftback'' album, hiatus, and disbandment

During a May 2008 interview with ''HipHopGame.com'',

hinted that he and

may never record another album together: In June 2009, Phonte announced the forthcoming Little Brother album, ''

Leftback In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

'', but also announced that the group would subsequently take a Black Star-esque hiatus, wherein he and Big Pooh would continue to collaborate on projects, but that another group album would not be released for a long while. Shortly before the April 2010 release of what would become Little Brother's final studio album, ''Leftback'', Phonte and

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

messages regarding Little Brothers' release of a previously unreleased 9th Wonder produced single, "Star", on the ''Leftback'' album. Shortly after the release of ''Leftback'' on April 10, 2010, Little Brother formally announced the group's breakup. Rapper Big Pooh noted: Phonte added:

Reunion & ''May The Lord Watch''

The reunion of Little Brother was, in part, due to the death of

Phife Dawg Malik Izaak Taylor (November 20, 1970March 22, 2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was an American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and for a short time Jarobi W ...

in 2016. At this time

and

had not spoken in 5 years. Pooh sent Phonte a short message of love and appreciation. Phonte followed this text with a phone call where the two were said to have spoken for several hours. This and many followup conversations allowed the duo to rekindle their friendship.

and

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...

being unable to attend the festival. According to Phonte, he was contacted by the promoters to substitute for Royce and called Pooh and 9th to collaborate with him. The group had not performed together in over a decade, so they performed many of their known hits including "Say it Again," "Loving It", "The Way You Do It," and "Dreams." Both artists felt that the energy from the show was a good omen, and after leaving the stage they knew they had something special. Following this performance, Phonte invited Pooh to a barbeque at his home where they decided to continue the collaboration. In May 2019, it was revealed that Little Brother was to return and release new music later in the year, announcing their appearance at the upcoming

Hopscotch Music Festival Hopscotch Music Festival is an annual three-day music festival in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. With more than 120 bands, Hopscotch is known for adventurous lineups, memorable performances, and a fan-friendly atmosphere. From ...

at September 7, 2019 in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. However, it was also revealed that 9th Wonder would not be returning as a third member of the group, with Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh continuing under the name; as they have been doing since 2007. On August 19, 2019, it was announced that Little Brother will be releasing a new album, titled "May the Lord Watch", which was released the following day on the 20th. The album continues and updates the fictional UBN channel concept that was originally used for their well-known sophomore effort

, and features no production from 9th Wonder; instead, working with producers such as

Khrysis Christopher Frederick Tyson (born September 7, 1981), better known as Khrysis, is an American hip hop producer and half of the duo The Away Team. Khrysis' productions consist of samples of records with intricate melodies and diverse drum bea ...

Nottz Dominick J. Lamb, (born February 21, 1977) better known by his stage name Nottz (or Nottz Raw), is an American hip hop record producer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia. Nottz has produced for some of the biggest names in hip hop, including Bu ...

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

and Black Milk. The album was completed in secret with many artists who featured on the album not knowing that they were contributing to a Little Brother album. The album was also remarkable for killing the singer Percy Miracles, who was an alter ego of Phonte. The first skit on the album features DJ

Peter Rosenberg Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality, who is signed to WWE where he is a one-time WWE 24/7 C ...

discussing the death of Percy. This concept was a tribute to the fact that the death of

was the event that brought the Phonte and Pooh back together. It was revealed in an interview on the ''Premium Pete Show'' that 9th Wonder was to have been a part of the reunion album, under its original title ''Homecoming''. The title was changed due to Beyonce releasing '' Homecoming: The Live Album'' to coincide with her concert film ''

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

''. Phonte and Pooh decided to continue the project without 9th after several disagreements over production and touring commitments.

Discography

*2003: '' The Listening'' *2005: ''

'' *2007: ''

'' *2010: ''

'' *2019: '' May the Lord Watch''

External links

Official website
* AllMusic.com Biography - Little Brotherbr>Discogs Profile - Little Brother

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Brother American hip hop groups Atlantic Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups established in 2001 American musical trios Southern hip hop musicians Musicians from Durham, North Carolina Alternative hip hop groups African-American musical groups Musical groups from North Carolina