Little Brother

Part of the new millennium resurgence of alternative rap, Little Brother drew from atypical inspirations for a Southern act: classic Native Tongues outfits like <a href="spotify:artist:1Z8ODXyhEBi3WynYw0Rya6">De La Soul</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:09hVIj6vWgoCDtT03h8ZCa">A Tribe Called Quest</a>, as well as later torchbearers like <a href="spotify:artist:78xUyw6FkVZrRAtziFdtdu">the Roots</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:67ei8ib6PLT1w3OkhIb4fB">Black Star</a>. MCs <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a> swapped rhymes with an easy chemistry, supported by DJ/producer <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a>, a sampling technician who quickly established himself as a worthy heir to production wizards like <a href="spotify:artist:6GEykX11lQqp92UVOQQCC7">DJ Premier</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a>. Commercially, the group peaked with the Top 20 R&B/hip-hop albums The Minstrel Show (2005) and Getback (2007). <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a> departed between those two LPs, and <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a> likewise opted to concentrate on other collaborative and solo pursuits after the release of Leftback (2010). After the trio reunited for a surprise live performance in 2018, <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Pooh</a> fully reactivated Little Brother with May the Lord Watch (2019).

Little Brother formed at North Carolina Central University, located in Durham. <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> (born Phonte Lyshod Coleman), <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a> (born Thomas Jones), and <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a> (born Patrick Denard Douthit) had known each other since 1998, when they performed in a local hip-hop outfit called <a href="spotify:artist:3qXqCWhwaCScOHWXrxtlNa">the Organization</a>. After that group's dissolution in 2000, they anchored a 12-member crew dubbed <a href="spotify:artist:6gojCDLq10HLqBddPZx8IH">the Justus League</a>. The trio worked together off and on in varying combinations until they officially teamed up as Little Brother in August 2001, adopting the name as a humble nod to their influences. Their first recording together was "Speed," a playful, down-to-earth look at the pressures of holding a day job while trying to make it in the music business. It set the tone for much of their early material. Over the next few months, they developed enough of a repertoire to start performing live around the area and quickly earned a following.

When the group made their music available for download on the Internet, a substantial buzz built far outside North Carolina, and it eventually earned them a deal with the Oakland-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABB+Records%22">ABB Records</a> in 2002. In 2003, Little Brother released their full-length debut, The Listening, which won widespread critical praise that focused especially on <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a>'s production. The buzz helped him earn a raft of high-profile outside gigs, including tracks on a pair of multi-platinum releases: The Black Album by <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a> and Destiny Fulfilled by <a href="spotify:artist:1Y8cdNmUJH7yBTd9yOvr5i">Destiny's Child</a>. Little Brother leapt to major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a> for the The Minstrel Show, a highly satirical and uncommercial set that entered Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart at number 19 in 2005. In 2007, as the group was finishing up their third album, it was announced that they had left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a> and had become a duo with the departure of <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a>. After its release later that year, Getback -- which featured one <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a>-produced track with Illmind, <a href="spotify:artist:1iGcDQbhw4Slu7bygkuV2T">Nottz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7GVhrE69ShzMSsX0DG4HHT">Khrysis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0XoDNlIZvfQP47lyLBVIsz">Zo!</a> also among the contributors -- nonetheless debuted at number 18 on the R&B/hip-hop chart.

Amid significant activity outside the group -- <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Pooh</a>'s solo discography was lengthening, while <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> was busy with the Grammy-nominated <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">Foreign Exchange</a> -- Little Brother made it known that a hiatus would follow their next album. That set, Leftback, arrived in 2010, after which <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Pooh</a> continued down separate, occasionally intersecting paths for nearly a decade. The MCs and <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a> reconvened in 2018 to perform at Durham's Art of Cool Festival (as a last-minute replacement for <a href="spotify:artist:6DVipHzYsPlIoA0DW8Gmns">Royce da 5'9"</a>, who missed his flight). <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Pooh</a> then took it to the studio for a fifth proper Little Brother album, May the Lord Watch, which arrived within a year of the MCs' reconnection. Among the producers were past associates such as <a href="spotify:artist:7GVhrE69ShzMSsX0DG4HHT">Khrysis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1iGcDQbhw4Slu7bygkuV2T">Nottz</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0XoDNlIZvfQP47lyLBVIsz">Zo!</a>, along with the likes of Focus..., <a href="spotify:artist:77zgRkcehIGCAtROXkXkb3">Black Milk</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4AgZVM5339ZoMyg38nYyYW">Devin Morrison</a>. ~ Steve Huey & Andy Kellman, Rovi