On the surface, the story of Little Brother, the Durham, North Carolina hip-hop duo, originally a trio, doesn’t seem different from many music groups. A founding member left, the group learned about record industry rule No. 4080, and the duo experienced a comeback to much fanfare.
However, the real story is more complicated, painful, and joyous.
Phonte and Big Pooh, the remaining members of Little Brother, released the documentary film May the Lord Watch, directed by Holland Randolph Gallagher and produced by Yoh Phillips, on YouTube in November. It’s a detailed account of the group’s history that revisits the exit of group member 9th Wonder, the many years of silence between group members Phonte and Big Pooh, and hits like a gut punch when Phonte reveals personal turmoil that makes music industry challenges pale in comparison.
“There are no heroes or villains in this story. The story’s hero is the music,” Phonte said when asked about some social media viewers’ perception that the documentary portrayed 9th Wonder negatively.
The three met as students at North Carolina Central University in Durham and experienced a rocketlike ascent following the 2003 release of Little Brother’s debut album, The Listening, bolstered by standout songs such as “Speed” and “The Yo-Yo.” Shortly after the project’s release, 9th Wonder, the group’s producer, was contacted by Jay-Z’s engineer, Young Guru, about working on Jay-Z’s upcoming The Black Album. The result was the song “Threat” and a growing separation between 9th Wonder and the other group members.
As 9th Wonder’s star grew and he continued to produce for other artists, his commitment to Little Brother waned. He missed tour dates and was only present at Atlantic Records’ request when the label needed to sell tickets or promote an album.
His controversial exit from the group in 2007 and in 2018 after they reunited at the Art of Cool festival in Durham is baggage both Phonte and Big Pooh have carried for many years. “Music is why Tay [Phonte] and I held it together for so long,” Big Pooh said. “We were the reason things f—ed up. It had nothing to do with the music.”
The documentary details 9th Wonder’s first exit from Little Brother after a tense conversation between him and Big Pooh at a tour stop in London when Pooh tells him he isn’t welcome at the show.
9th Wonder’s role in the history of Little Brother is important. However, the story of Little Brother’s trials and tribulations has less to do with 9th Wonder than hip-hop media would have you believe.
Releasing their debut album, The Listening, on independent label ABB Records in 2003, Little Brother quickly found itself at the next level when its sophomore project, The Minstrel Show, was released on major label Atlantic Records in September 2005.
“It’s like walking into a f—ing call center,” Phonte said of his and Big Pooh’s reaction to the vibeless offices of Atlantic Records when they walked through on their album’s release day. “When we signed to Atlantic, they had just undergone this huge corporate merger, and everyone was trying to figure things out. Then you have this group from Durham, North Carolina, bringing you this album called The Minstrel Show to sell. That’s another bad cocktail. That’s the Incredible Hulk right there.”
The album, which played off of the minstrel shows of the 19th century in which white actors would perform in blackface, was a commentary on the state of Black music and pop culture. It was a tough pill for the label to swallow, especially since the commentary appeared to apply to other artists on Atlantic Records’ roster. The album needed more support from the label. Despite critical acclaim and a decent amount of press buzz, including a dispute with The Source magazine over mic ratings, the album had little commercial success, selling only 18,000 copies in a pre-streaming world.
“I remember having a conversation with Chris Lighty,” Phonte recalled of the late music executive. “He told me after he put out LL Cool’s Mr. Smith album he was the prince of Def Jam. He could do whatever he wanted to. The next album he released was CRU’s Da Dirty 30 album. I told him I loved that album, and he said yeah, it’s a great album, but just because something is great doesn’t mean it will sell.”
“For me, that’s when I understood this is a business,” Big Pooh said of the group’s time with Atlantic Records. “There’s no difference between this and General Electric.”
Looking back on it now, Phonte sees one of the challenges with The Minstrel Show: People may have misunderstood the group’s intentions and saw it as ungrateful for the opportunities presented.
“I think people took it as bad form,” Phonte said. “Like, y’all get to this point where you’re on a major, and all you want to do is talk about other people and artists on your label? That’s obviously not what we were trying to do, but we didn’t have the outlets available today to get our message out, and it just looked like terrible f—ing form from this group putting out their major label debut when that wasn’t the intent.”
Antoine Lyers
But Big Pooh and Phonte have also encountered troubles that make their trials in the music industry insignificant. As discussed in May the Lord Watch, Big Pooh had a significant health scare in 2013 when he was hospitalized with a blood clot and was near death. Ironically, 9th Wonder, not Phonte, called to check on him, which created a rift between Phonte and Pooh that persisted for years.
Phonte also said that during his formative years, he was sexually abused by an older woman.
“I’m so glad you said it like that,” Phonte said, referring to the description of the abuse in the documentary as hitting like a gut punch. “It almost felt like a sucker punch. That was how it felt for me. You live your life thinking it’s one way. I never really dealt with it and never understood how it played out in my decisions. Pooh was one of the people that helped me work through that.”
These personal stories make May the Lord Watch a compelling film that peels back the layers of Little Brother to reveal history that even their most loyal fans may not be aware of. For Phonte and Big Pooh, the release of the documentary was a true jumping into the deep end moment as neither saw each other’s interviews before its release.
“I didn’t even watch my own interview,” Big Pooh said. “We didn’t see what the other said until we got the first cut.”
The freedom of reconciliation has afforded Phonte and Big Pooh new opportunities to manage Little Brother the way they want. They released the documentary through a “pay what you want” model on YouTube. If viewers want to watch it for free, that’s OK. It’s a gift to the Little Brother faithful and a way to tell the story on their terms. Earlier this year, Phonte and Big Pooh dived into another venture they knew little about: beer.
“There was a local brewer named Fullsteam Brewery, and we were talking about doing a partnership, and the idea came up to do a beer,” Phonte recalled.
LIttle Brother
The resulting product was Percy’s Paw Paw Miracle, a beer named after Phonte’s alter ego Percy Miracles and pawpaw, the tree fruit native to North America.
“It was about showing hip-hop artists that you can grow older in this game and make something that connects directly to your fan base,” Phonte said. “I remember a friend telling me he was on tour, and everyone was setting up merch tables with T-shirts and the typical stuff, and one artist set up a table and was selling dog bowls. He went up to the guy and asked why are you selling dog bowls? And he said because my fans have dogs. Those s—s sold out.”
But the brew collaboration was not like the typical rapper who slaps his name on a product and sells it. Phonte and Big Pooh were actively involved in the beer brewing process.
“Phonte and Pooh came to the brewery and met with me,” said Sean Lilly Wilson, owner and founder of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. “Pooh couldn’t make it on the brewing day, but Phonte came and was actively involved. He mashed, added hops, and asked a lot of questions. Little Brother was engaged, curious and hella fun to work with.”
Looking at their career and life, Phonte and Big Pooh have defied the odds of the music business and have come out on the other side of the storm closer and stronger.
“We were a bridge for generations,” Big Pooh said of the group’s ability to stay relevant for more than 20 years. “Getting respect from other artists and fans isn’t just about being dope. It’s about being true to who you are. Me and Phonte call ourselves fullbacks. We do all the dirty work but get none of the glory.”
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