The Minstrel Show [PA] (CD - 2005)

Personnel: Phonte Coleman (vocals, background vocals); Pamela Graham, Mister Diggs, Darien Brockington, Percy Miracles (vocals); James Poyser (strings, keyboards); James Lopez (bongos).

Additional personnel: eLZhi, Yah Zarah, Darien Brockington, Joe Scudda, Chaundon.

Audio Mixer: Gimel Keaton.

Liner Note Author: Derek "Poetx" Jennings.

Recording information: Chopp Shopp Studios, Durham, NC.

Actors: Jermaine White; Andrew Foster; Ryan Jaskot; Corey Johnson.

Photographers: Kim Wu; Mister Marcel.

Few groups earn a major-label contract based on their producer's merits, but when Little Brother jumped to Atlantic for their second full album, The Minstrel Show, any cynic looking for a good reason would point to the increased profile of trackmaster 9th Wonder (Jay-Z, Destiny's Child). But it wasn't just 9th Wonder that made Little Brother's first album one of the best underground rap debuts of the new millennium; rappers Phonte and Big Pooh matched a smooth Southern drawl with up-North smarts. Like their influences in the Native Tongues family, the trio cast a clever eye over music and culture, sniffing out hypocrisy and greed, then dismissing them with sparkling satires. The Minstrel Show presents more of the same, expanding the palette to a host of hot topics: R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" series, which gets skewered by the spot-on "Cheatin"; exploitative urban TV stations (the album's main concept); and even the need for brand-name clothes ("5th and Fashion"). And any fans who feared that 9th Wonder's success would lead to a diluted or overly polished record have nothing to worry about; awash in '70s soul and mellow, slapping beats, his productions make the message tracks carry just as well as the humorous material. ~ John Bush

Bolstered by the high-profile work of DJ 9th Wonder (who produced albums for Destiny's Child and Jay-Z), Little Brother jumped to a major label for their sophomore release, MINSTREL SHOW. A loose concept album that satirizes television shows (the album cover looks like an issue of TV Guide), Little Brother's follow-up boasts all the smarts, mic skills, and superb 9th Wonder production of the debut--and then some. Like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest before them, Little Brother has a message but knows how to groove, making MINSTREL SHOW a fine example of fun, well-crafted, highly conscious underground hip-hop. minimize