“Dope beats, dope rhymes, what more do y’all want?” Phonte once asked, and the question remains a potent one: hip-hop, particularly of the underground variety, turned a more experimental corner around the time of the millennium, and for many, the art of the simply-constructed, plainspoken hip-hop LP fell by the wayside. The loose-limbed, live-band feel of the Roots; the lush soundscapes and penetrating self-excavation of Kanye West; these are the things that we’ve been conditioned to value in hip-hop. Some […]
Posts tagged "murs"
Spin Cycle: Phonte’s “Charity Starts At Home” // 9th Wonder’s “The Wonder Years”
In the reasonably notable absence of the classic line-up of North Carolina hip-hop trio Little Brother, we’ve been fortunate enough to hear from the individual parts; frontman Phonte made waves as one half of the critically-acclaimed Foreign Exchange, and producer 9th Wonder’s been nothing short of prolific behind the boards. And, of course, there’s Big Pooh, who’s been… well, Pooh’s been doing something, probably. There were even a couple of 9th-less Little Brother albums that totally don’t count because they’re […]