His group, Little Brother, had worked nonstop for several months on the follow-up to its 2003 breakthrough, “The Listening.”
The celebration ended abruptly after Source editor-in-chief Joshua “Fahiym” Ratcliffe called Phonte to say that magazine owners David Mays and Ray “Benzino” Scott were reducing the rating to four microphones. Ratcliffe also announced that he would resign his position.
“When we were first told, we felt blessed,” said Phonte, whose group includes Big Pooh and producer 9th Wonder. They perform tonight at the Fox Theater in Boulder.
“Then when the story broke about Benzino taking (the rating) away, then Fahiym quit, I was like ‘wow.’ The business of hip-hop is a real messed-up business, it’s real crazy. So it’s like you’re swimming with sharks for the most part, so if you know you’re swimming with sharks, don’t complain when you get bit.”
The Source magazine, launched in 1989, was once considered the “hip-hop bible.” In the late ’90s, however, the magazine’s credibility suffered because of the widespread belief in the hip-hop community that Scott and Mays were changing album ratings in hopes of selling more records of the projects they were involved with, such as Scott’s own hip-
hop group, Made Men. The two have never commented publicly on the matter.
“I just have to take my hat off to Fahiym, just for really making a statement and really standing up for his beliefs,” Phonte said.
The name of the group’s album, “The Minstrel Show,” is a controversy in itself. Set to be released Sept. 13, the CD’s name refers to shows in the late 1800s and early 1900s in which whites in blackface would put on musical performances mocking black people. Later, some African-Americans participated in the shows. Little Brother is comparing that form of entertainment to hip-hop today.
“Pretty much we use that as metaphor to explain the way hip-hop is now,” Phonte said. “Just as the minstrel show at one point was the most popular form of American entertainment, hip-hop is one of the most popular forms of entertainment, but it’s also one of the most negative and most demeaning toward black people.
“What we’re saying is that if we don’t take responsibility and start taking note of the images and the messages that we’re sending out to our community, it’s just going to continue to perpetuate a negative image and be a weapon of destruction against ourselves.”
The North Carolina trio formed Little Brother in 2001. The name is a tribute to hip-
hop legends the group members grew up listening to and saw as big brothers.
They self-released their first album, “The Listening,” in 2002. The album was picked up and released nationally by indie label ABB Records in early 2003.
By the middle of the year, the group became a hip-hop industry favorite with endorsements from Jay-Z, ?uestlove (of The Roots), Pete Rock and other luminaries. The attraction of the album was the 9th Wonder’s production that was heavily influenced by Pete Rock and the early-’90s hip-hop sound.
With the underground success of the album, each member went on to do solo projects.Phonte worked on a collaborative project with Amsterdam producer Nicolay called “Foreign Exchange,” all done while Phonte stayed in North Carolina and Nicolay in the Netherlands.
“It was just like working in the studio,” Phonte said about the long-distance project. “The key thing is the music. No matter how you got the music, whether it’s a cat sending you a beat over instant messaging or whether it’s a producer actually sitting with you in the studio building a track around you.”
In 2005, Little Brother made the move from indie to major, signing with Atlantic Records.
With the new album Phonte said they’re just trying to have fun but make a point at the same time.
“The whole thing about it is … to some degree we’re all players in the minstrel show,” he said. “When 50 Cent’s ‘P.I.M.P.’ comes on at the club, it’s like do cats get up and dance to it or do cats sit down and say, ‘No it’s wrong, it degrades women, how could he call himself a pimp?’ Most of the time cats are dancing. … We’re just trying to bring balance, and hopefully this album will serve as an alternative to that.”
Little Brother
HIP-HOP|Fox Theater, 1135 13th St., Boulder; 8 p.m. Monday; with Away Team, Legacy, Darien Brockington, Joe Scudda and Chaundon|$13-$15|call 303-443-3399
