May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story. 📽️ (Full Documentary In OP) | Discussion Thread

[Ziggiy]

Yeah I'm a huge fan of LB. Even think the latest album MTLW was their best album ever. But I gotta say this doc kind of put both Pooh and Te' in a worse light when it comes to the 9th beef. I think they all kind of saw each other on near the same level at the start (especially 9th and Te') but as time went by it was clear 9th was the star of the group despite not being the guy writing the bars so I think they were slighted from that point on and were always worried about that perception of not being equal to 9th's production. I think they would've been bigger if they kept shyt going without the beef. I remember the Justus League movement having a nice little headlock on the underground. Even on Drake's comeback season he spits on 9th's production and has TWO different LB features on there. You keep that relationship solid no matter what if I'm Pooh and Te'. Despite it all they definitely have an indelible mark on the game for sure.

The Minstrel Show has very little actual 9th production if i’m not mistaken, Krysis did most of the leg work on that album. That PLUS the touring issue is what led Phonte and Pooh to say “enough’s enough”.

There was a making of article a few years ago that went in depth on the recording and creation of The Minstrel Show. Phonte was the one doing the majority of actual business on behalf of the group and was super stressed out because he basically put that album together conceptually. 9th even said himself that Phonte is the true leader of Little Brother and I took that as there may have been a silent passive aggressive power struggle between 9th and Phonte for what the group’s actual vision was going to be. Phonte comes off as very vocal with his opinions and strong willed whereas 9th comes off more passive so I could see how 9th blowing up and not being around to help oversee the day to day going on could rub Phonte the wrong way. I think at the end of the day Phonte and 9th are both alphas and its probably better off that they work separately. Pooh seems to be very collaborative and willing to do the “dirty work” so he could’ve went either way but it seems like 9th never respected him as an artist whereas Phonte probably saw Pooh working his ass off to improve and that was the silver lining in their relationship. Phonte is a better rapper and overall talent than Pooh but he RESPECTS Pooh’s work ethic whereas 9th looks at him as second rate.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

The Minstrel Show has very little actual 9th production if i’m not mistaken, Krysis did most of the leg work on that album. That PLUS the touring issue is what led Phonte and Pooh to say “enough’s enough”.

There was a making of article a few years ago that went in depth on the recording and creation of The Minstrel Show. Phonte was the one doing the majority of actual business on behalf of the group and was super stressed out because he basically put that album together conceptually. 9th even said himself that Phonte is the true leader of Little Brother and I took that as there may have been a silent passive aggressive power struggle between 9th and Phonte for what the group’s actual vision was going to be. Phonte comes off as very vocal with his opinions and strong willed whereas 9th comes off more passive so I could see how 9th blowing up and not being around to help oversee the day to day going on could rub Phonte the wrong way. I think at the end of the day Phonte and 9th are both alphas and its probably better off that they work separately. Pooh seems to be very collaborative and willing to do the “dirty work” so he could’ve went either way but it seems like 9th never respected him as an artist whereas Phonte probably saw Pooh working his ass off to improve and that was the silver lining in their relationship. Phonte is a better rapper and overall talent than Pooh but he RESPECTS Pooh’s work ethic whereas 9th looks at him as second rate.

Just bolded your first sentence. If you meant to say 9th didn't engineer most of Minstrel Show, you're exactly right. Khrysis was in the studio for the album and actually recorded all the music, and then they took it to Baseline Studios in NYC and Young Guru mixed the album after Khrysis recorded it. But 9th did produce all of the album except for 2 tracks. Khrysis produced Watch Me, and Nicolay produced the instrumental for 5th and Fashion interlude. 9th produced everything else.

 

[aceboon]

FWIW I do feel like 9th was pretty solid after the Jay and Destiny's Child joints. He had the full album with Murs and Buckshot before Minstrel Show dropped, and Jean Grae. They were all pretty solid names at the time, and his name was definitely popping off with a lot of opportunities. There were still some big checks for producers back then.

To be clear I'm not saying he was broke, he was eating off outside production, but considering the bulk of LB's earnings we're off touring I don't see how 9th could continue to produce full LB albums without touring proceeds when Phonte and Pooh themselves have said they weren't making money off sales like that. It doesn't make sense.

 

[YakSpiller]

One of my favorite fry of all time…

But watching this doc made me sad. I hate that everything pure gets fukked up eventually.

I really wish 9th would have been involved in this.

 

[Shield & Sword]

 

[Morose Polymath]

47 mins in & there's def some hating vibes. Not saying 9th a saint but without his beats in the beginning, they wasnt gonna pop

Yeah, I started the doc last night too and got to that part about The Hiero tour.....

Te and Pooh telling 9th to stay from the tour cause he was "a 'weirdo' and would fukk up the vibe" immediately raised my antenna..... then for them nikkas to get salty that 9th got the most love at a local show even though he wasnt on tour with them (even tho they were the ones to tell 9th to chill) had me like ya know what, 9th might be vindicated

Even Questlove said them nikkas was trippin smh

 

[steadyrighteous]

Finally watched. I don't know why I didn't sooner. I think it just felt too nostalgic, and even though they're all still alive something about it felt like... an ending I didn't wanna watch if that makes sense. But I'm really happy I finally fid.

I didn't grow up on LB or with LB I grew up to LB. They're all older than me by enough years where it felt like at every stage of my life they were preparing me for the next 5-10 years.

Especially Phonte.

I was a kid and they were teens. I was in my teens they were in their 20s. I was in my 20s they were in their 30s.

And at every stage, Phonte was rapping about shyt I didn't get, but felt relatable. And then I'd hit the age he was when he was rapping and I'm like "oooooooooh".

Rappers like Hov feel like cooler older brothers who were out of the house by the time you were growing up. But Phonte felt like a cool cousin you saw every once in a while and even though you always wanted to be Hov, you really knew that life would be sweet if you turned out like Tay.

And I'm also thankful to folks like @TheDarceKnight , @Ziggiy, @EA etc. who I always run into on these threads because even though we ain't boys, this iittle LB community is something I'm proud to be a part of.

LB Bidness.

 

[steadyrighteous]

And all of that doesn't even cover how LB changed and shaped my taste in music. Not just rap, but music. LB, J League, Oddisee, FE+, Nicolay. 9th etc. is the reason I listen to all the shyt I listen to know.

From shyt like Roc Marci to Moonchild. Black Milk to Hablot Brown.

These nyggas shaped my musical being and if I didn't find them I have no idea what I'd be into now

 

[darealvelle]

And all of that doesn't even cover how LB changed and shaped my taste in music. Not just rap, but music. LB, J League, Oddisee, FE+, Nicolay. 9th etc. is the reason I listen to all the shyt I listen to know.

From shyt like Roc Marci to Moonchild. Black Milk to Hablot Brown.

These nyggas shaped my musical being and if I didn't find them I have no idea what I'd be into now

lol little brother pandora radio put me on Strange Fruit Project.

 

[steadyrighteous]

lol little brother pandora radio put me on Strange Fruit Project.

I think that same radio/playlist put me on to DJ Jazzy Jeff's The Magnificent

 

[areohbee824]

This was really good. Watched it late on Sunday night, I'll be watching this one again

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Finally watched. I don't know why I didn't sooner. I think it just felt too nostalgic, and even though they're all still alive something about it felt like... an ending I didn't wanna watch if that makes sense. But I'm really happy I finally fid.

I didn't grow up on LB or with LB I grew up to LB. They're all older than me by enough years where it felt like at every stage of my life they were preparing me for the next 5-10 years.

Especially Phonte.

I was a kid and they were teens. I was in my teens they were in their 20s. I was in my 20s they were in their 30s.

And at every stage, Phonte was rapping about shyt I didn't get, but felt relatable. And then I'd hit the age he was when he was rapping and I'm like "oooooooooh".

Rappers like Hov feel like cooler older brothers who were out of the house by the time you were growing up. But Phonte felt like a cool cousin you saw every once in a while and even though you always wanted to be Hov, you really knew that life would be sweet if you turned out like Tay.

And I'm also thankful to folks like @TheDarceKnight , @Ziggiy, @EA etc. who I always run into on these threads because even though we ain't boys, this iittle LB community is something I'm proud to be a part of.

LB Bidness.

Whole post applies to me too, since they're a little older than me as well. Good observations

 

[TheDarceKnight]

And all of that doesn't even cover how LB changed and shaped my taste in music. Not just rap, but music. LB, J League, Oddisee, FE+, Nicolay. 9th etc. is the reason I listen to all the shyt I listen to know.

From shyt like Roc Marci to Moonchild. Black Milk to Hablot Brown.

These nyggas shaped my musical being and if I didn't find them I have no idea what I'd be into now

No doubt.

Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if those artists stuck between the traditional model and the social media/streaming era had been around just a few years earlier or later...LB/Justus League, Oddisee, Kev Brown, Kenn Starr, Von Pea, Donwill, Nicolay, etc.

 

[Steezy]

Watched this with my girll..excellent doc and i agree with yall, the egos of tay and pooh really killed a magical group. The funniest part of all this was my girl saying 9th still had the largest part of the mural at the very end. I was rollin like after all that them nikkas still got the b line 20 years later

great doc.. LB Bizness still

 

[darealvelle]

To me this group just had bad communication skills with each other. I recall Dilla leaving Slum Village to focus on his solo and production career and he was still lacing them with beats.