Artist Spotlight: Little Brother

"It's another beautiful day in North Carolina y'all, y'all should really be here to see it," start of one of this unique trio's most popular songs. If it isn't obvious, these guys are North Carolina natives - each member from the Triangle's Durham, NC. If you're into hip-hop, and you're looking for something that's a little more unorthodox, I recommend checking Little Brother out.

This alternative hip-hop group consists of three guys: Phonte, Big Pooh and DJ 9th Wonder. The group formed in 2001 at North Carolina Central University, located in Durham. The members of Little Brother have worked together since 1998 on several hip-hop projects. All Music as well as many other sources claim that the group was heavily influenced by other alternative hip-hop groups like A Tribe Called Quest, but it's very clear that their Triangle roots played a major role in the type of music they produced.

There is definitely a religious influence in their music, as far as the values and morals that come through in their songs. This group was known for looking down on mainstream hip-hop artists for rapping about other things that weren't "real life." They looked at these figures as sellouts, and felt strongly that they were traitors, and needed to shown the path to redemption. Pitchfork discusses this in detail in their review of the group's most popular album, The Minstrel Show (2005).

Pitchfork claims in the review that "lyrically, Phonte and Big Pooh offer a variety of "we're better than you" battle rhymes but aren't bold enough to say why." After spending some time with Little Brother's music, I have to agree that the group could have had more depth in their music when it comes to backing up these claims their making about mainstream hip-hop culture. You can't go around saying you're better than these hugely influential artists, without having a good reason why.

However, I think there's something charming about this music. Particularly, on The Minstrel Show album, their values are clear...and there is actually a very positive undertone. The group tries to relate to regular people, and show everyone that just because they've gained some success in hip-hop, they they still go through the same things. They rap about the everyday struggle with lyrics like "I still struggle just like you, I still hustle just like you, it just so happens that Big Pooh's doing what he loves to do" from the song "Beautiful Morning."

I can definitely get the sense that the trio is proud of where they come from. I think their southern values and the Durham community culture definitely affected this outlook that is apparent in their music. My only problem is that I sense a bit of hypocrisy with all the harsh judgements that they make toward mainstream artists like Outkast. But if you want some true, cultural Triangle hip-hop, I would definitely recommend checking these guys out.