Why aint Little Brother Blow?

[ZEB WALTON]

No what happened was "cool" people started being on the internet more. Back then the internet consisted of majority nerds before Myspace & smartphones really got popin. Popular on the internet wasn't "cool" until around 2009 when other "cool" people were on it and it was acceptable to be on the net alot.

Idk why it wasnt accepted (your reasoning makes sense tho idk if id say its cause "cool" people started going online) i was just saying it wasnt.

If mf doom, little brother or jedi minds came out today idk if wed even hear about them at all cause now the "soundcloud" rappers are. Dime a dozen all tryna make popular music.

 

[thatrapsfan]

No what happened was "cool" people started being on the internet more. Back then the internet consisted of majority nerds before Myspace & smartphones really got popin. Popular on the internet wasn't "cool" until around 2009 when other "cool" people were on it and it was acceptable to be on the net alot.

You unironically calling yourself cool for not liking LB?

 

[ogc163]

-Phonte was kind of an a$$hole who didn't want to play the industry games. The 9th interview with Combat Jack showed that Phonte used to do a lot of passive aggressive ish with music exec's. Which is cool if you are completely independent and can go around the typical power brokers, but not so much when you are dependent on them to push you.

-Wrong era, I think LB would have done better in this era where SJW/Black consciousness has been commodified and successfully packaged. Phonte is more talented as an MC than Kendrick or Cole, so if the blavity/VSB crowd are writing long winded essays about aight shyt Kendrick spitting on DAMN! Then maybe he would have gotten love in this era.

 

[dizzy4111]

I feel like they had a damn good run all things considered. I still revisit a lot of their stuff.

 

[newworldafro]

Ran into snap. And to keep it real they made a couple of amazing songs and a lot of average songs.

Plus that's when Ye, common, talib, slum village were making noise too and everybody would rather listen to them.

There was still room for Little Brother in that sector of hip hop. Matterfact, another diss to group was when they did a track with Talib that was supposed to go on Eardrum album.

 

[newworldafro]

It ain't that complicated. They couldn't make appealing catchy songs and weren't "cool." They really gave off the "nerd backpackers who complain on the internet" vibe. The songs just weren't hitting and they couldn't compare or adapt to what was poppin. They had no commercial appeal.


I really tried my best to get into them but I never could and seeing them complain really didn't help at all. You can have skills but if you don't know how to present them, it's all for naught, especially if you're trying to be above underground.



And the concert incident happened in 2006 at a Fayetteville, NC (their home turf) when they performed at a radio station's summer jam concert and the whole crowd just stared at them. Here's a repost of what Phonte posted on Myspace when it happened back in 2006.


There were pictures from the stage showing the crowd literally just staring at them like
. Funniest thing ever

Damn...I can't remember id I've ever seen those passages before...but that's exactly what I said on tje first page,,,cause I know my North Carolina people of that era....when "Laffy Taffy Thuggin" is considered acceptable Southern Hip Hop representations in that era.....then yeah..."jokers just weren't in sync" for lack of a better phrase........

I high key felt the humorous pain they felt, when your own people ain't vibin with you......"too intelligent"....."not enough contraband-esque swag".....damn.

 

[hayesc0]

In a weird way though, they did way better than I ever would've expected. To be on that NC local hip-hop scene in 2000/2001, and to be lucky enough to feel the vibe in the area at that time, I never would've imagined that more than 17 years later (I hadn't even been alive for 17 years) Little Brother would be discussed on popular online message boards, and people would be saying that they made life changing music. I know this post might seem a little bit lame, but that's almost cooler to me than having them blow up. I mean it would've been nice if they could've pulled a Roots or something like that, where they got to be a really big indy hip-hop act, and been able to hold it together. But the fact that they made 2 critically acclaimed albums and a couple critically acclaimed mixtapes, and have been able to have a hug cult following that will enjoy their music forever is a pretty big deal.

Back in that time, there were cats on the local scene that didn't even think Little Brother would be the NC group that would make it. There were people that even thought other Justus League members would make it first.

EDIT: Also it's pretty incredible how they've all had successful solo careers doing pretty different things. No one would've guessed 9th would be a household name hip-hop producer and college professor. No one would've guessed Pooh would be a solid solo artist working with elite level artists and producers. And no one thought Phonte would've turned The Foreign Exchange from what it was on Connected what it grew into.

What part of NC u from I'm from Raleigh sounds like we around the same age

 

[wizworld]

Them nikkaz dope as hell

Is it cause they fell out with 9th?

Nobody aint tryna hear real shyt?

Everyman rap doesn't excite the masses like that. It's cool to talk about your personal life, but to blow up you have to convince the listener that you're more special than them.

It didn't help that their big single "Lovin It" sounded like bootleg McDonald's commercial and it featured some miscellaneous white dude. It's funny because the song I was hoping would be the second single "Say It Again" also sounded like a McDonald's commercial.

 

[Greenhornet]

they are too generic for me

 

[wizworld]

Btw I was still on my backpack shyt in those days, but I didn't hear anything "too intelligent" on that "Ministrel Show" album at all. It just wasn't that memorable, not for the masses. Even compared to the first album, it just wasn't hitting like that.

Phonte is a top shelf musical talent though, can't deny that. And I actually would like to see him try his hand at acting too.

 

[BigTyme Records]

Everyman rap doesn't excite the masses like that. It's cool to talk about your personal life, but to blow up you have to convince the listener that you're more special than them.

It didn't help that their big single "Lovin It" sounded like bootleg McDonald's commercial and it featured some miscellaneous white dude. It's funny because the song I was hoping would be the second single "Say It Again" also sounded like a McDonald's commercial.

Lmao I kinda like the wayne version of 'Lovin it" better....n at the bold

 

[wizworld]

Lmao I kinda like the wayne version of 'Lovin it" better....n at the bold

They gave Scudda the same type of "this guy is way cooler than us" look that they gave Median on "Shorty On The Lookout". But he didn't catch my ear like Median did, plus it's just a weird thing to do anyway.

 

[wizworld]

Idk why it wasnt accepted (your reasoning makes sense tho idk if id say its cause "cool" people started going online) i was just saying it wasnt.

If mf doom, little brother or jedi minds came out today idk if wed even hear about them at all cause now the "soundcloud" rappers are. Dime a dozen all tryna make popular music.

lol MF Doom is on a different level, please don't put him with those guys. His format is original, his wit is original, he has his own gimmick, he has a really interesting backstory etc...

 

[TheDarceKnight]

What part of NC u from I'm from Raleigh sounds like we around the same age

Grew up in Durham. Graduated from
Jordan in 03

 

[ISO]

They simply didn't have the image. Kanye was on the backpack, soul sampling tip but he had pop sensibilities he could make something for everyone and had a superstar look and attitude.

I mean look at them