Morrisville, N.C. isn’t known for its hip-hop scene.
This modest town of just 10,000 residents is the quintessential southern suburb. Hotels, businesses and strip malls line the roads of the downtown area, and southern homes with large front porches and sprawling yards are juxtaposed with newer apartment complexes in the residential areas of the city. It’s a prime example of the collision between the old and new South.
Because of this, then, it’s only fitting that Morrisville houses the headquarters of Hall of Justus, an umbrella management and distribution company for local rap artists (and one from the Netherlands), which include hip-hop outfits like L.E.G.A.C.Y and Little Brother. The latter group, which has materialized as a revolutionary force for North Carolina as well as national hip-hop, has recently signed with Atlantic Records.
Inside the Hall of Justus’ doors, Maya Jackson, the polite and soft-spoken director of business affairs, is working on her computer. After a few moments pass, a black Lexus pulls into the parking lot, and Maya looks up.
“Pooh’s here,” she sings.
Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother steps out of the car. He is greeted warmly by 9th Wonder, the group’s producer, and the two men saunter into the building, each greeting Maya with a friendly hug. After 20 minutes of discussing the debauchery of Franklin Street after UNC’s NCAA win the night before, the other MC and third member of Little Brother, Phonte, wanders in. In his hands are checks from Big Dho, the CEO and manager of the group.
“Good God!” 9th Wonder exclaims. “This is nice.”
After meeting at North Carolina Central University in late 1998, Phonte, Pooh and 9th Wonder became close friends quickly and formed Little Brother in August of 2001. Named as a kind of meek acknowledgement to other rappers, Little Brother has remained humble despite their music becoming increasingly well-known.
“In the game of hip-hop music, we’re all little brothers of the artists who came before us,” Phonte says. “When we were young, we looked up to the rappers at that time. They were like our brothers, you know? Little Brother is kind of a tribute to those cats.”
Almost immediately after forming, the group began to place their finished songs on the Internet, garnering themselves a great amount of well-earned attention; such attention was ultimately the driving factor for their success.
ABB Records, the West Coast underground hip-hop mainstay, downloaded a few of Little Brother’s songs after they began releasing them. “Apparently, after the people at [ABB Records] liked our stuff that they heard,” Pooh explains. “They got over to us in 2003 and asked us to make a single for them. We were like, ‘We already got a finished album.’ And that was that.”
In February, 2003, ABB Records released Little Brother’s well-received debut, The Listening. The name of the album was, again, named as a tribute to the past.
“Back in the day, people used to buy records, go home and take off the wrapping, read the credits and just sit and listen,” Phonte explains. “Now, people are just making one song and that’s it. Listening to music used to be an event. The art of actually listening to an album is dying these days. We’re trying to get that back with our record.” With this approach to changing the art of hip-hop, The Listening won Little Brother national attention and paved the way for their future in hip-hop music.
To attribute Little Brother’s success solely to the production skills of its resident beatmaker 9th Wonder would be incorrect; the album is a result of the chemistry of the group’s efforts. However, 9th Wonder’s beats and melodies are what has put the group on the national map.
At the time of the debut’s release, Little Brother was just on the cusp of national fame.
Shortly after The Listening was released, 9th Wonder got a call from Jay-Z’s engineer, who told the producer that Jay-Z wanted him to make a song for Jay-Z’s The Black Album. 9th Wonder quickly agreed, flew up to New York and produced “Threat.” After the success of The Black Album, Jay-Z called 9th Wonder and personally asked him if he would do a song for Destiny’s Child.
Again, the producer acquiesced and spent three days in Los Angeles. “You’d be surprised how real [Jay-Z and Destiny’s Child] are,” he says. “You think that they’re gonna be all wrapped up in their success but they’re the real thing.”
After the success of The Listening, the members of Little Brother began to work on solo albums as well as a follow-up to the debut. Despite their upcoming solo outings, the members of Little Brother have remained faithful to the group. This loyalty has allowed them to make The Minstrel Show, a more polished follow-up to The Listening that will be released this September.
For Little Brother, the thought of becoming satisfied with their way of life is the first step to failing in the rap world. “We’re not here for the money,” Phonte says. “If we don’t get bigger than this, I’m fine with that, and I know [they are too]. I don’t need to be making money to be happy.”
Pooh echoes Phonte’s remarks. “I’m happy but I’m not satisfied,” he says. “The moment you become satisfied, you stall and hit the ground.” Because they fear this kind of complacency, Little Brother constantly makes sure they do not tread far from the philosophy that originally drew them together as musicians.
“We have to constantly challenge ourselves,” 9th Wonder says. “If our next album doesn’t top our previous one, to me, we’ve failed.”
Little Brother is opposed to selling out but at the same time, they are not against becoming mainstream. “I can see ourselves getting more popular and working our way into the mainstream,” Pooh says. “But we’re going to work at it. It’s not going to be an overnight deal.”
9th Wonder agrees with Pooh while adding his disgust for current mainstream hip-hop. “Mainstream rap is whack,” he says. “It’s not that I don’t like the genres that they’re in. I just don’t like whack music. I’m not a big fan of the same thing all the time, and that’s what’s up these days. If you don’t have a music video on TV or a single being played five times a day on the radio station, you’re not real. That’s just not right.”
Although they were originally signed to a West Coast label, more often than not, Little Brother is associated with “Durham rap.” Although none of the members actually grew up in Durham, they all identify with the local hip-hop scene. “Music doesn’t depend necessarily on where you’re from,” Phonte says. “It’s where you’re at that matters.”
All of Little Brother’s members appreciate the media coverage that Durham hip-hop is receiving. “The press is good but it’s not where it should be,” Pooh says. “The real problem is from the people living in Durham. We get some attention from people living in Durham, but here, you gotta rock the world before you come back.”
9th Wonder, however, remarks differently.
“We didn’t really have a choice about where we were going to blow up,” he says. “We live in a conservative state where you’re raised either to go to college or get a job right after high school. No matter what, you’re expected to get married and have kids. And that’s the end of your life. North Carolina isn’t really a musical haven, but it’s great that we’ve found an outlet here.”
Gaining increased fame along the way though does not seem to faze Little Brother. “I wouldn’t have my life be any other way,” Phonte says. “We just like to have a good time. On stage, we like to draw the audience in and keep them, let them feel the music using the energy we give from the stage. That’s how we keep moving and getting better.”
Little Brother is riding the wave of the Durham rap scene, and riding it well. With every step they’ve taken, they acquire more national recognition and acclaim. They are pioneers of the local underground rap scene, dedicated to bring rap back to where it used to be.
“I like to think we can change the face of hip-hop,” 9th Wonder says. “It just takes patience, but we’ve got all the time in the world.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.