''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, even before its release. The title is a reference to the

minstrel show 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 ...

s that were popular in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 19th century.

Themes

The album has a running concept based on a fictional television network called "UBN" (U Black Niggas Network), which is a satire of stereotypical programs and advertisements for African Americans. For example, on "Cheatin", Phonte (performing under his alter-ego "Percy Miracles"), spoofs the over-dramatic R&B sagas performed by singers such as

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

and

Ronald Isley Ronald Isley (; born May 21, 1941) is an American recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and occasional actor. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers. Early life Born in 1941 to Sally ...

. Many of the skits contain tongue-in-cheek references to black pop-culture in the

Controversy

For many reasons, the furor surrounding ''The Minstrel Show'' overshadowed the music itself. On August 16, 2005, hip hop magazine

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

's Editor-in-Chief, Joshua "Fahiym" Ratcliffe, announced his retirement due to conflicting opinions on the rating ''The Minstrel Show'' was to receive in the next issue of the publication. According to Ratcliffe, his original rating of 4.5 (out of 5) was reduced to 4 by the magazine's Chief Brand Executive, Raymond "Benzino" Scott and CEO Dave Mays because Ratcliffe gave then-upcoming artist Young Jeezy a rating of 4. After they refused to change the rating back to 4.5 he decided to step down from his editorial position. For his part,

Benzino Raymond Leon Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Ray Benzino, is an American urban contemporary, urban media proprietor, television personality, rapper, and record producer. He produced records (as part of the production t ...

admitted at the time of questioning, that he had yet to listen to the album for himself and had no problem with Ratcliffe's original rating. While this may have built up anticipation for the album, another more serious obstacle reared its head when the

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

network

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

(Black Entertainment Television) refused to play the group's video for the single, "Lovin' It", allegedly because they deemed it "too intelligent". Michael Lewellen, a publicist and program director for BET, responded, "It's not true, not in that context. BET reserves the right to show or not to show music videos of any type based on the network's own standards and decision-making processes."http://slumz.boxden.com/f5/sep-8-little-brothers-too-intelligent-says-bet-network-responds-allegation-448793/ In a portion of the video, the group lightly pokes fun at the different stylistic aspects of hip hop subgenres such as "

gangsta Gangsta may refer to: Urban culture * Gangsta rap, a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths * Gangster, a member of a gang * Hip hop fashi ...

", "

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

", " earthy" and "

icy Icy commonly refers to conditions involving ice, a frozen state, usually referring to frozen water. Icy or Icey may also refer to: People * Icy Spicy Leoncie, an Icelandic-Indian musician Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ICY (band), a vocal ...

". The rest of it sees them performing to a zealous crowd.

Reception

In contrast to the reaction of

, Little Brother received praises from many powerful forces within the hip hop world, such as

XXL magazine ''XXL'' is an American hip hop magazine, published by Townsquare Media, founded in 1997. History In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of ''XXL''. It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover. In December 2006 ...

, who gave the album an "XL" rating and most notably, Scratch Magazine, who gave it a perfect 10 out of 10 rating. Despite all the controversy, ''The Minstrel Show'' debuted at a #56 position on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

selling 18,000 copies in its first week out (a much lower number than expected by both fans and critics). A second official single and any further promotion of the album was abandoned by

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 ...

, and although the group soon began recording their follow-up album, ''

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 ...

'', their relationship with the label drew to a close before its release.

Track listing

Unless otherwise indicated, Information is based on the album’s Liner NotesLittle Brother. “The Minstrel Show” (Album Notes). ABB Records / Atlantic. 2005. ;Notes (*) indicates the Performer contributed Additional Background Vocals to the track.

Album samples songwriting credits

Information is based on the album’s Liner Notes
Welcome to the Minstrel Show and Minstrel Show Closing Theme *"No Stronger Love" as performed by

The Floaters The Floaters were an American R&B vocal group, from the Sojourner Truth housing projects in Detroit, Michigan, that formed in 1976. The group are best known for their 1977 song " Float On", which reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No ...

; written by Arnold Ingram, James Mitchell and Marvin Willis Beautiful Morning *"What's Happening, Baby?" as performed by

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

; written by

George David Weiss George David Weiss (April 9, 1921 – August 23, 2010) was an American songwriter and arranger, who was a president of the Songwriters Guild of America. He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Weiss was born in a Jewish fa ...

Hugo Peretti Hugo E. Peretti (December 6, 1916 – May 1, 1986) was an American songwriter, trumpeter, and record producer. Born in New York City to an Italian American family, Peretti began his music career as a teenager, playing the trumpet in the Bors ...

and

Luigi Creatore Luigi Federico Creatore (December 21, 1921 – December 13, 2015) was an American songwriter and record producer. Creatore was born in New York City in 1921, the son of noted Italian-born bandleader and composer Giuseppe Creatore. After serving w ...

The Becoming *"Circles" as performed by

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus Al ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

; written by Tim Dulaine (aka Tony Dulaine) Not Enough *"Easy, Easy, Got To Take It Easy" as performed by

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

; written by

Gene McFadden Gene McFadden (January 28, 1949 – January 27, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team o ...

, John Whitehead and Victor Carstarphen Hiding Place *"Jealous Love" as performed by

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

; written by Bobby Womack and

Cecil Womack Cecil Dale Womack (September 25, 1947 – January 25, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was one of the musical Womack brothers, and had success both as a songwriter and recording artist, notably with his wife Linda ...

Slow It Down *"Slow Dance" as performed by

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Clas ...

; written by C. Curtis Gadson, Rosslyn Sanders and Rollin Sanders Say It Again *"Do Something Special (For Your Lady)" as performed by Five Special; written by Jerry Q. Jones and Ron Banks Lovin' It *"One Night Affair" as performed by The Stylistics; written by

Teddy Randazzo Alessandro Carmelo "Teddy" Randazzo (May 13, 1935 – November 21, 2003) was an American pop songwriter, singer, arranger and producer, who composed hit songs such as "Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", "Pretty Blue Eyes", ...

, Roger Joyce and Victoria Pike All for You *"I Really Hope It's You" as written and performed by Michael Franks Watch Me *"

With a Child's Heart "With a Child's Heart" is a song by the singer Stevie Wonder, from his album ''Up-Tight''. The song was released as the b-side to the single "Nothing's Too Good for My Baby". Stevie Wonder version Stevie's original version of ''With a Child's Hea ...

" as performed by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

; written by

Henry Cosby Henry R. "Hank" Cosby (May 12, 1928 – January 22, 2002) was an American songwriter, arranger, producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonder ...

Sylvia Moy Sylvia Rose Moy (September 15, 1938 – April 15, 2017) was an American songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she ...

and Victoria Basemore Sincerely Yours *"Whatever Goes Around" as performed by

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the Rhythm and blues, R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

; written by

Terry Callier Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012) was an American soul music, soul, Folk music, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was r ...

and Larry Wade Hold On (Tellin' Me) (B-Side of "Lovin' It" single) *"Sitting On The Edge Of My Mind" as performed by

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson ...

; written by Garfield, Fletcher, O'Hara and O'Hara

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minstrel Show 2005 albums Little Brother (group) albums Albums produced by 9th Wonder Albums produced by Khrysis Albums produced by Nicolay (musician) Atlantic Records albums