MUSIC REVIEWS
Little Brother - The Minstrel Show
David Allun Jones
They’re being called the second coming of the Native Tongues movement, a tag that Little Brother obviously take to heart. Emcees Phonte and Big Pooh alongside producer 9th Wonder have been turning heads with their Tribe-like meditations and retro-jazz-soul backdrops for a few years now as indie darlings. But a move to the majors (they’re now signed to Atlantic) as well as 9th Wonder’s more high profile resume (including recent work with Jay Z and Destiny’s Child) puts them in a predicament of also trying to move units. Does this mean Little Brother are watering themselves down for radio play? Nope, instead they’re doing quite the opposite on their new album, The Minstrel Show, which unabashedly spoofs on Black entertainment.
Built around the concept of an urban-geared network titled “UBN” (U Black Niggas) and the sitcom, “The Minstrel Show”, it’s clear that the guys are a little annoyed with what they’re seeing and hearing on the airwaves. They spend many of their verses hyping themselves as being better, and more “real”, than the million sellers on the scene, but they end up sounding just like every other cocky rapper which I doubt was their intent. The boasting gets especially tiresome since they never get beyond talking about how good they are by actually showing us how good they are (especially when it’s obvious they have skills). Just as well, the underlying bitterness and incessant whining (“I ain’t never heard an act to blow and go global/ Then come back home and still be called ‘local’”) take up too much airtime, eating away at the otherwise entertaining, and intelligent, aspects of the group seen elsewhere, like the moving “All For You” which centers on absentee fathers (“Pop/ How could I blame you cause you couldn’t maintain?/ I did the same thing”).
What ends up becoming the album’s true saving grace is 9th Wonder and the interwoven skits. Wonder’s productions may overdose on the sped up soul samples, but their laidback, feel good grooves tie everything together nicely, becoming a most reliable distraction when the rappers get dull. Meanwhile, the skits are funny (especially “5th & Fashion” and “Cheatin’”, an extremely hilarious take on R. Kelly and Ronald Isley) and important to the on-going flow of the album’s concept.
Many will be quick to offer high praise for Little Brother because of their “purist” vibe but a closer look would prove that hype undeserving. They might not sell themselves out to the mainstream or brag about their dough or expensive toys, but they unfortunately prove unable to succeed in upholding the even higher standards of the opposite extreme.
