Why aint Little Brother Blow?

[I love Latina women]

I agree they were about 5 years to late.

Exactly. When they was out, everybody on that Lil Jon wave. Crunk had shyt on lock then and there was no balance in Hip Hop no more.

 

[Mag149]

Yea they were dope, like others said they kinda came out in the wrong era, they came out too late for their own good, I fit them in the run the jewels lane if done better

 

[Formerly known as...]

Timing was bad for them. They came out with lyricism and dope hip hop when everyone wanted club bangers and Ho's in videos.

The listening is so fukking dope though

 

[GPBear]

 

[OGBobbyJohnson]

Crazy to think that if they were out nowadays they would be at the top of the game potentially

Phonte executes being conscious but still relatable better than Kendrick & J Cole do

 

[brianwuzhere]

They had an ill ass concept for the third album that never happened

What was the concept?

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

I agree they were about 5 years to late.

They were 5 years to late and 5 years to early at the same time

 

[Ziggiy]

What was the concept?

The Listening was the Radio show

The Minstrel Show was the the TV show

The third album was going to be the
Movie

 

[L&HH]

I hear a some of Drake in Phonte...or the other way around

9th Wonder's drums can get a bit annoying. I cant really think of any other famous producer with worse drums actually

Drake has said Phonte is one of his favorite rappers ever.

 

[JustCKing]

Exactly. When they was out, everybody on that Lil Jon wave. Crunk had shyt on lock then and there was no balance in Hip Hop no more.

Not exactly. There were a lot of acts that weren't crunk rappers that were doing quite well in that era. G-Unit, T.I.,Jadakiss, Jeezy, Dipset, Kanye, Twista, Ludacris, and several others were doing well without making crunk records. There was still a balance in Hip Hop.

Little Brother just wasn't designed to blow up. Their sound was a throwback to a completely different era of Hip Hop. To make it worse they signed to Atlantic, which was everything they weren't. Atlantic is focused on hit records. When they dropped Minstrel Show, it didn't sound anything like what was out at the time and not in the sense that it was ahead of it's time, but something that sounded like early-mid '90's Hip Hop. On top of that, that album was satirical parodying a lot of the buffoonery that was going on in entertainment. That ruffled industry feathers.

Then it was like they were hustling backwards. They gave Atlantic the most anti-commercial album they could've made, but the album after the Atlantic deal was more commercial than the album they dropped on one of the most commercial labels.

 

[I love Latina women]

Not exactly. There were a lot of acts that weren't crunk rappers that were doing quite well in that era. G-Unit, T.I.,Jadakiss, Jeezy, Dipset, Kanye, Twista, Ludacris, and several others were doing well without making crunk records. There was still a balance in Hip Hop.

Little Brother just wasn't designed to blow up. Their sound was a throwback to a completely different era of Hip Hop. To make it worse they signed to Atlantic, which was everything they weren't. Atlantic is focused on hit records. When they dropped Minstrel Show, it didn't sound anything like what was out at the time and not in the sense that it was ahead of it's time, but something that sounded like early-mid '90's Hip Hop. On top of that, that album was satirical parodying a lot of the buffoonery that was going on in entertainment. That ruffled industry feathers.

Then it was like they were hustling backwards. They gave Atlantic the most anti-commercial album they could've made, but the album after the Atlantic deal was more commercial than the album they dropped on one of the most commercial labels.

Yeah, but you know what I mean. I was getting at the jest of it all. I was just too lazy to type a lot of the other factors you pointed out too.

 

[Claudex]

I remember trying to get back into American rap and "The Getback" was the only thing available on limewire. I kept waiting for something else to drop in it, but nada. So eventually one day I just downloaded it out of defeat...shyt a breh may as well find out why these "Little brothers" are the only thing hip-hop on the only program I knew for downloading music.


After downloading it, the intro beat...I just remember wanting to delete the whole shyt, but shyt I had to wait a day for it to download. So I may as well just tough it out.

I remember listening to can't win for losing like 'till phonte verse came through:

[Phonte]
I used to do it for the fans
'Til I realized that they'd never understand
What I was feelin as a man, fickle as Trav' Bickle
They either hatin you or they a Stan
Then I said I'd do it for my fam
'Til I realized that they didn't give a damn
I stepped out of they comfort zone
Now I can't step, can't step inside my mother's home
Situation so nuts
So much for tryin to be a man
Then I said I'd do it for the props
'Til I realized that the props always seem to stop
When nikkas can't keep you all to theyself
Take you home, put you in they little box
Then I said I'd do it for my city
'Til I realized that I shoulda been warned
I stepped inside the ring, rockin my best apparel
My eye on the sparrow, but this torero
Couldn't take the bull city by the horns
So now I'm back on my me shyt

That shyt captured how I was feeling at that exact moment like a photo. I remember thinking that download was divine intervention, I listen to that tape to this day (every once in a while now). I remember thinking they were famous, until I found out their fame extinguished before they even blew up.

 

[Ian1362]

Atlantic records

 

[El Vato]

it's not about being 5 years late and so on...the time and place wasn't right and their company was garbation. There was a whole other movement going on that now when you hear their music it's understood and given props.

 

[gldnone913]

Shoulda stayed independent

When their shyt came out, it was refreshing. I played the shyt out of The Listening and The Minstel Show. Then I remember folks saying 9th needs to switch up his drums. Then they fell out . On my fan shyt, I was mad at Phonte for a bit - felt like it was his fault. But I think that the situation got sticky when they signed to Atlantic. I still fukk w Foreign Exchange tho