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 "...Once you call it quits and break up and the world knows that you've said that...they know automatically this next album coming out is like 'OK, these niggas ain't really together, they just coming back 'cos they gotta fulfil this contract, they need some money'..." UKHH: So, have you got the phone call that many people were expecting you to get once A Tribe Called Quest announced their reunion? BP and P: Nope…. P: I don’t think that reunion is happening for one, and then if it does happen I think its for the money…. BP: Once you call it quits and then if you come back, you forcing it. It’s like me saying to ‘te “It’s over, man I’m through with you”. Then coming back 4-5 years later it’s not gonna be there, anymore….  P: It’s like you don’t
even care, it’s like why even do it? If the love ain’t there,
man…. Breaking up a rap group, I’d equate that to hitting a woman in a
relationship. I mean, I’ve never hit a woman (to ‘photographer’, Karen)
I just want y’all to be clear about that, I’ve never done that but its
just like, once you hit a woman, even if she stays with you, you know
that your relationship is never gonna be the same after that, regardless
of what you say to her, when you put your hands on her your relationship
as you once knew it has died. With rap groups it’s the same thing. Once
you call it quits and break up and the world knows that you’ve said
that…they know automatically this next album coming out is like ‘OK,
these niggas ain’t really together, they just coming back ‘cos they
gotta fulfil this contract, they need some money’. It’s like, they know
that that shit ain’t real. I think they should just let it go. I thought
‘The Love Movement’ was a cool album, I know they got shitted on for it
but I think they should call it quits…. don’t tarnish your legacy
anymore…
UKHH:
Are there any plans for a Roy Lee (one of Phonte’s many alter egos) solo
album? Would 9th Wanderer and the Little Brothers help him out?
P: Yeah,. Roy Lee’s not
really trying to do a solo album he’s working on his beats he’s stepping
his beat game up, I got a beat CD off him back at the crib, he got some
heat, it’s bangin’. He really just stepped his game up, cos he got the
Korg Tri-ton and he got the ‘boom’ and the ‘bap’ - He found the ‘bip’
actually! He found it! - that was the missing element. He found that ‘bip’-
aw, baby - he’s over to the next level. He’s working on some things, but
mainly the guy to look for, and I’m telling y’all [he’s] the future…. of
music…. in general, you gotta look for - 2 words, people - Percy Miracles
(another one of Phonte’s alter egos who sounds very much like a
diminutive Dirty South singer/MC) Percy… Miracles. He is the guy who is gonna just change the game, just with his soul singing and the stuff
that he’s doing is just going to be ridiculous… His songs… I wish I could
quote some titles but they are so sexually explicit….
UKHH:
Go ahead, man….
P: Well he has this one
song called ‘Rollover Love’ (everyone cracks up apart from Phonte who
remains deadly serious) and he’s talking about, y’know, you wake up six
o’clock in the morning and you just roll over on your lover…. that’s
rollover love. That’s just one of his hits… His album - when it comes,
its gonna shut the game down….
UKHH:
Do you think that Cash Money would dig ‘Whoadies On Fire’ (a ‘tribute’
on Phonte and Eccentric’s ‘The Story of U.S)?
P: I think they would.
One thing I’ll say, man, I can’t even front I learned about a lot of the
somewhat commercial cats or whatever, they tend not to take themselves
as seriously as a lot of the underground cats do. They seem to have a
sense of humour…I think even a Cash Money could look at the ’Whoadies on
Fire’ track and laugh it off like “Aight”. I mean, if a cat did a Little
Brother imitation track, I’d laugh like hell….if it was well done, I’d
laugh like shit….
BP: We got imitated
before our show in Atlanta. We got imitated pretty well and that shit
was funny….
"...Percy...Miracles. He is the guy who is gonna just change the game, just with his soul singing and the stuff that he's doing is just going to be ridiculous...His songs...I wish I could quote some titles but they are so sexually explicit...." UKHH: You did some pretty good impressions on there, I nearly crashed my car laughing at them a couple of times…. BP and P crack up…. UKHH: You enjoyed that a little too much… Who were the local acts you looked up to when you were coming up? P: Erm, as far as local, there weren’t no local cats… There wasn’t no-one really round there doing it like that. As far as DJ’s in our area there was cat named DJ Skaz. He was the first cat who ever DJ’d [for] me when I came to college. He was the first cat who DJ’d my set when I was rhyming, he was just cutting two records back and forth, just cutting it for me, and I really appreciate that to this day. That’s about it though, man…. UKHH: Is it true that 9th Wonder is producing the new Memphis Bleek album?  BP: That’s what he’s
doing right now…
P: He’s doing about
four of five joints for it - they just mixing it down, now…
UKHH:
Do you see yourselves as a group who could break through genre barriers
within Hip Hop?
P: It all depends on
the people, if they wanna let us break them boundaries… One thing I will
say though is that we’ve been really fortunate to avoid the whole
“backpack rap” shit. I don’t think motherfuckers see us and thing of
just the whole nerd rap and all that shit. They might hear the music and
be like “Aaw, that’s that “backpack” shit”, but, then if they come to
show or actually meet us it’s like “OK, these niggas are somewhere
else”…. We’ve been able to do that and we will be able to continue to do
that…
UKHH:
Where do you see Little Brother one year from now?
BP: Touring for the
next album…
UKHH:
How’s the recording process for that going?
BP and P (conferring):
About 7 or 8 songs recorded. The new album is called The Minstrel Show.
We wanna get it out by the end of this year but more than likely, 2005.…
"...we've been really fortunate to avoid the whole "backpack rap" shit. I don't think motherfuckers see us and thing of just the whole nerd rap and all that shit. They might hearthe music and be like "Aaw, that's that "backpack" shit", but, then if they come to show or actually meet us it's like "OK, these niggas are somewhere else"..." UKHH: Is it going to be your all 9th’s production on it? I heard you’re working with Kanye West on it as well, you just did a tune with him? P: We just did a song with him, he was rhyming on it. He didn’t do the track, 9th did the track. But for the album its just gonna be 9th. We didn’t really wanna deviate… with this being our first album on a major label, we didn’t wanna deviate too far from The Listening… For us to go out and get a Kanye track and a Just Blaze track and a Neptunes track and “OK 9th you can do some more”, that’s not what got us here. It was Phonte, Big Pooh and 9th that’s what got us to this point and that’s what its gonna take to take us even further…. UKHH: Any shout outs you wanna send?  P: Aaw man…
BP: Shout out to
everybody!
P: Shout out to
everyone in London - everyone who came out to the show at the Jazz Café,
that was real live... shout out to everyone in the UK that’s supporting
real Hip Hop music, all the underground and the pirate radio stations,
just keeping the real raw shit alive. I really appreciate… just that
renegade fucking attitude… We need that shit in the States, man….
UKHH:
You don’t have a lot of pirate stations in the States?
P: Nah - we don’t
really have a lot, man… Everybody who’s loving real music we really
appreciate it…
Shout to Nicci Cheeks
for hooking this up with no complications, the Holiday Inn in Camden for
not throwing a brother out even though I was loitering and Karen ‘the
photographer’. Bring a camera next time, baby….
Facts:
 The Listening is out
now on ABB Records9th Wonder Is God’s Stepson is out now 9th Wonder Presents Black Is Back is out now Big Pooh’s solo album is on the way Phonte and Eccentric - The Story Of U.S. is out now on Roy Lee’s Records and Tapes Murs 3:16 - The 9th Edition is out now on Definitive Jux The Minstrel Show will be out this year. Or early next year. - Kobi | profile
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© ukhh.com 2004
Little Brother Interview
