Aug 01, 2013 Little Brother - The minstrel show full album Track listing: 1) Welcome to the Minstrel Show 2) Beautiful morning 3) The becoming 4) Not enough 5) Cheatin 6) Hiding place 7) Slow it.
A strange thing you learn about American popular music, if you look back far enough, is that for a long time it didn’t much have “genres” — it had ethnicities. Vaudeville acts, for instance, had tunes for just about every major immigrant group: the Italian number, the Yiddish number, the Irish one, the Chinese. Some were sung in a spirit of abuse; others were written or performed by members of those groups themselves. And of course there were the minstrel shows, in which people with mocking, cork-painted faces sang what they pretended were the songs of Southern former slaves. This was how we reckoned with our melting pot: crudely, obliviously, maybe with a nice tune and a beat you could dance to. Sometime in the 1950s, the mainstream saw its last great gasp of this habit.
A nation that considered itself very space-age and worldly enjoyed quaint spins on sentimental Italian music (“That’s Amore” and its pizza pies) and Trinidadian calypso songs about hard, simple labor (“Day-O” and its bananas). You had your “Latin” numbers, your Hawaiian ones, your “Asian” songs — light ethnic pastiches laid out cheerily, like an international buffet that serves falafel one day and schnitzel the next, never too bothered about how accurate the recipes are. There was a simple notion behind all this stuff, and it was the belief that music, like food, came from someplace, and from some people.
Even when it was played in a condescending ethnic-joke burlesque of who those people actually were — even when it was pretty aggressively racist — the notion remained: Different styles sprang from different people. Then all of this changed, and we decided to start thinking of pop music not as a folk tradition but as an art; we started to picture musicians as people who invented sounds and styles, making intellectual decisions about their work. But music is still, pretty obviously, tied to people. How else do you create a situation in which, after decades of hip-hop’s being the main engine of pop music, it can still be a little complicated when nonblack people rap? That vexed thing we call “identity” leans its considerable weight on all kinds of questions: which sounds comfort us or excite us; where and how we listen to them; how we move our bodies as they play. Watch a mere silhouette of a human being dancing to music, and you can immediately guess things about who they are and where they came from.
In 2017, identity is the topic at the absolute center of our conversations about music. There may be times when this fact grates at us, when it feels as though there must be other dimensions of the world to attend to; “surely,” you moan, “there are songs that speak to basic human emotions in ways that transcend the particulars of who we are!” But if you look through the essays in this magazine, you may notice two things. One is that, unbidden and according to no plan, they find themselves continually reckoning with questions of identity. The other is that they’re doing this because the musicians are, too. A Japanese-American musician writes a song called “Your Best American Girl.” An R.&B.
Singer titles one “F.U.B.U.” — or, “for us, by us.” Are you part of her “us”? The house music in Kanye West’s “Fade”: Does it make you picture the black Chicagoans who helped invent it or the club-going Europeans who embraced it? How does it work when a queer woman matches the sexual braggadocio of male rappers, when L.G.B.T. Activists sing a country song for a restaurant chain that once fired gay employees, when Leonard Cohen revisits his childhood religious inheritance?
This is what we talk about now, the music-makers and the music-listeners both. Not the fine details of genre and style — everyone, allegedly, listens to everything now — but the networks of identity that float within them.
Maybe decades ago you could aim your songs at a mass market, but music does not really have one of those anymore. Artists have to figure out whom they’re speaking to and where they’re speaking from. The rest of us do the same. For better or worse, it’s all identity now. ♦ Nitsuh Abebe is a story editor for the magazine.
As the main producer for the group, 9th Wonder's instrumentals consist of chopped and manipulated samples of old soul records, somewhat reminiscent of Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Complimenting the backdrops are MC's Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh with their tag-team wordplay and raps.
On 'Speed', they talk about the pressures of working a regular job while trying to survive in the rat race, while on 'Make Me Hot', they make fun of people who hassle them for beats and studio time. They also do some uncanny impressions of old school era MC's on 'So Fabulous'. The underlying theme of The Listening concerns the group's effort to engage their listeners on a deeper level, and their frustation at casual listeners who pay little attention to lyrics and content and simply want to hear a 'hot song'. The interludes are performed by the members of a fictional radio station called WJLR (Justus League Radio).
On the last song called 'The Listening', the group address the album's main theme head on, at one point abruptly stopping the song, exchanging dialogue concerning said song, and then restarting again, which in effect creates a song within a song. This album was seen as a fresh alternative to the often violent and misogynistic raps of post-90's hip hop. 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 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 and Ronald Isley. Many of the skits contain tongue-in-cheek references to black pop-culture in America. For many reasons, the furor surrounding The Minstrel Show overshadowed the music itself.
On August 16, 2005, hip hop magazine The Source'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 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 network, BET (Black Entertainment Television), refused to play the group's video for the single, 'Lovin' It', deeming it 'too intelligent'. In a portion of the video, the group lightly pokes fun at the different stylistic aspects of hip hop sub-genres such as 'gangsta', 'backpack', 'earthy' and 'icy'. The rest of it sees them performing to a zealous crowd.
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Many critics have cited this incident, along with BET's earlier refusal to air De La Soul's 'Shopping Bags (She Got from You)' video, as a sign of the network's intentional dumbing down of their music video programming. In contrast to the reactions of BET and The Source, Little Brother received praises from many powerful forces within the hip hop world, such as XXL magazine, 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 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, and although the group soon began recording their follow-up album, Getback, their relationship with the label drew to a close before its release. The group has confirmed the involvement of several outside producers, in addition to 9th Wonder. These include Nottz (who previously collaborated with the group on the Justus League album, Soldiers of Fortune), Illmind (who has contributed to their mixtape albums), Hi-Tek, and Denaun Porter. Low Budget producer, Oddisee was supposed to make a contribution, however, the group wrapped up the album before finally meeting up with him.
The songs recorded and confirmed include four Nottz produced songs, and four Illmind produced songs, along with one 9th Wonder produced song. This caused many to speculate about 9th Wonders' role within the group, some even suggesting that he may have left the group entirely. Asked for clarification, 9th responded: “I'm still part of the group and that's all I have to say.
I'm big on what's in the group stays in the group. I've always said the same thing, I'm 9th Wonder of Little Brother and Phonte is the leader of Little brother. This is the direction the MCs have decided to take.
I've only got one beat on the album for now and if I get more, I do and if I don't, I don't.” Fan reaction to this news has been mixed, with some welcoming the new changes, and many others calling for greater involvement from 9th. Nonetheless, the album still had an overall positive outlook from critics. In a drastic turn of events, the group announced in January, 2007 that they would be parting ways with both Atlantic Records, and their longtime producer 9th Wonder, due to creative differences but in both cases, on amicable terms.
Rapper Big Pooh was quoted as saying: “Little Brother has decided, in the best interest of the group, for Little Brother and 9th Wonder to part ways. There are no hard feelings and no beef.
This is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music”. Roy Lee's Records & Tapes Present Little Brother The Chittlin Circuit The Mixtape, a collection of Singles, B-Sides, Bootlegs, and Unreleased Selected by DJ Flash. Mixed by Justus League's own DJ Flash, this disc includes many unreleased and hard-to-find tracks from the crew of 9th Wonder, Phonte, Big Pooh, as well as the rest of the JL family. Limited edition run, originally available exclusively from HipHopSite.Com.
'Threatening' uses the beat from Jay-Z's 'Threat,' produced by 9th Wonder 15.' Intergalactic Soul' uses the instrumental of the same name from DJ Spinna's Here To There Album. Fastlife Music announces the release of The Chittlin’ Circuit (Version 1.5) by Little Brother on June 7th. The Chittlin’ Circuit (Version 1.5) contains cuts featuring some of the hottest names in hip hop including Kanye West, Big Daddy Kane, Young Guru and Consequence, PLUS unreleased and hard-to-find tracks from the crew of 9th Wonder, Phonte, Big Pooh, and The Justus League. The Chittlin Circuit V 1.5 bridges the gap between Little Brother’s debut album The Listening and their forthcoming major label sophomore LP The Minstrel Show. Little Brother was featured as one of the Top Most Anticipated Artists of 2005 by XXL Magazine. The Durham, NC trio makes music that brilliantly splits the line between art and commercialism, all while maintaining their fun-loving hip hop purist stance.
The group members MC’s Phonte and Big Pooh, along with DJ/ producer 9th Wonder (Jay Z, Destiny’s Child), met in 1998 while attending North Carolina Central University. After noticing that they shared some of the same musical tastes (The Roots, Led Zeppelin, Wes Montgomery), the fellas formed an instant friendship and vowed to help each other develop their careers. Sometimes a good strategy can be to go back to the drawing board, and recreate things that worked for you in the past. Obviously the North Carolina duo of Little Brother agrees with that line of reasoning, because they’ve re-released their 2006 mixtape Separate But Equal, which was hosted by DJ Drama, with Separate But Equal (Drama Free Edition). One of the biggest changes is the fact that DJ Drama is no longer ranting throughout the album, and there are three new songs that accompany it. The previously unreleased tracks ‘Deeper’ featuring Dynas and ‘Passionflower’ are both produced by their former crew colleague 9th Wonder, while ‘Playin To Lose’ is handled by The Kreators. Other than that, Little Brother deletes a handful of outdated skits, but basically sticks to the script and once again includes songs like ‘Let It Go’ featuring Mos Def, ‘Can’t Let Her,’ ‘Speed Racin’ featuring Skyzoo and Chaundon, ‘Macaroni,’ and ‘Candy’ featuring Bun B and Darien Brockington.
For those who didn’t get an opportunity to hear this album two years ago, this is a perfect to chance to get a little more familiar with Little Brother’s catalog. But for the ones who do have this album in their collection, make sure to check out the newer tracks if you haven’t already through message boards and such. Little Brother is the epitome of the “blue-collared MC,” with lyrics that can relate to virtually everyone whether your bank statement reads well into the six figures, or negative thirty dollars. In the crusade to preserve quality Hip-Hop, Big Pooh and Phonte rank amongst those who can be considered as Hip-Hop’s top activists in the cause. Get the latest info related to Little Brother. Phonte has appeared on numerous records by other artists, often as a vocalist.
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He made a guest appearance on the song 'Beats N' Rhymes' from producer Kev Brown's album I Do What I Do, and has also recorded tracks with producer Oddisee, both members of the Maryland-based Low Budget collective. In 2006, he was featured on producer DJ Shadow's The Outsider album. In the following year he contributed vocals to rap group Playaz Circle's 'Paper Chaser', from their album Supply & Demand. Phonte's upcoming projects include The Foreign Exchange's second album, Leave It All Behind, as well as a collaboration (as Tiggalo) with Detroit-based musician Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80’s. The latter of these is intended as an homage to early 1980s R&B and pop music and features covers of popular songs such as a-Ha's 'Take on Me', Toto's 'Africa', and Joe Jackson's 'Stepping Out'.
Connected is the debut album by The Foreign Exchange, a hip hop group consisting of American rapper Phonte from Little Brother and Dutch producer Nicolay. It has since been widely regarded as a classic alternative hip-hop album, contributing to the high reputation of Phonte, the leader of the critically acclaimed Little Brother band. Their group name comes from how they produced their songs: Nicolay would produce a beat in the Netherlands and send the beat to Phonte through instant messaging, email, and traditional mail to lay down the vocals. Phonte would return the product, so Nicolay could then master the track; they did not meet until they began touring for the album. Big Pooh (born Thomas Jones) is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brother. In addition to numerous records and EP's by Little Brother, Pooh released a solo album in 2005 entitled Sleepers to positive critical review. Furthermore, he has been guest featured on numerous tracks by other artists.
In January 2007, in response to the departure of Little Brother member, co-founder and main producer 9th Wonder, Pooh stated in an interview that 'there are no hard feelings and no beef', adding that 'this is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music.' In 2007 Pooh appeared on the Little Brother download-only mixtape entitled And Justus for All, which was released free on the internet February 13th, 2007, mixed by DJ Mick Boogie. In 2009, he released a new interim 'street' album, The Delightful Bars, with four slightly different versions of the album available, including one iTunes exclusive 'Candy Apple' edition, each featuring different artwork showing a nude model sprinkled with candy.345 The video for the album's lead single, 'The Comeback,' features a kitchen scene with Pooh surrounded by women preparing ingredients, baking and packaging 'Delightful Bars' candy bars. Big Pooh’s latest vehicle is a street-LP entitled, Delightful Bars, and there will be four different versions of Delightful Bars made accessible, including a special iTunes only version (referred to as the Candy Apple version), which will be released on 3-24-09 and the North American retail version of Delightful Bars (referred to as the North American Pie Version) will be released on 5-5-09. Delightful Bars lead-single is the Khrysis produced “The Comeback” and its accompanied by the OhNo produced B-Side “Radio” and is further bolstered by guest spots from Pooh’s Justus League cohorts (Chaundon, Joe Scudda, Jozeemo, Big Dho & Darien Brockington) Jay Rock, Torae and production from Khrysis, 9th Wonder, Jake One, Illmind, Young RJ, The Co-Op and OhNo.
For Pooh, what he initially planned to be a mixtape took on a new life after a few particularly productive studio sessions as he affirms “this is some of my best work to date as a solo artist. I started off recording for a mixtape, but I had a plethora of material that deserved a presentation much larger than a mixtape. Delightful Bars was born from the Dirty Pretty Things, Rapper’s Delight, and The Recipe recording sessions. The fans will find that this project serves as the perfect bridge between Sleepers and my upcoming sophomore solo album Dirty Pretty Things.