Little Brother Little Brother is an
underground hip-hop group composed of Phonte, rapper
Big Pooh and producer
9th Wonder. The group met in 1998, while attending
North Carolina Central University. The forums of the website
Okayplayer were ignited by interest from a growing fanbase. The album's success led to the group signing a non-exclusive deal with
Atlantic Records in 2004. The group's 2005 album,
The Minstrel Show, was a concept album based on a fictional television network called "UBN" (U Black Niggas Network). The album has been described as
satirizing the connection between
minstrel shows and stereotypical industry and self-constructions of Blackness in entertainment and advertisements. The album received positive reviews, without commercial success. During the recording of their third album, the group announced the departure of 9th Wonder, as well as a parting of ways with their label. They returned to ABB Records and released
Getback in late 2007.
Getback was Little Brother's first album as a duo. In 2010, they released their fourth studio album,
Leftback. In 2023, Little Brother released the documentary film,
May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story about the group's history, which was directed by Holland Randolph Gallagher.
The Foreign Exchange Phonte met Dutch producer
Nicolay virtually on an
Okayplayer message board. The duo released their debut album,
Connected in 2004, having never met face to face. Their second album,
Leave It All Behind was released in 2008. The group received a Nomination for the
Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Daykeeper" (featuring Muhsinah) from
Leave It All Behind. Their third album,
Authenticity, released on October 12, 2010, peaked at number 145 on the
Billboard 200 chart in the US and Number 23 on the U.S.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Love in Flying Colors, their fourth studio album, was released in 2013. The album's track "Better" was featured on
Barack Obama’s 2022 playlist. The album
Tales from the Land of Milk and Honey was released in 2015. Their album
Hide&Seek was released in 2017.
Solo work Phonte has released two solo albums, and has appeared on numerous records by other artists as a vocalist. His lyrics tend to include perspectives on working-class life. He released his solo-debut titled
Charity Starts at Home on September 27, 2011 on the label FE Music. His second album,
No News Is Good News (FE), was released on March 2, 2018.
No News Is Good News was included in
Bandcamp Daily's best-100-albums-of-2018 year-end list (placed at number 42).
TV and other media Phonte has composed music for soundtracks and TV, and is a
voice over artist and actor. He did voice acting and composed music for the animated TV series,
The Boondocks, as well as the series,
Black Dynamite. He composed songs with
DJ Premier for the TV series,
The Breaks (
VH1), 2016–2017. He was featured on several episodes in the role of "Imam Ali" in a script on the 1990s American music industry. He did voice acting for a commercial honoring
Russell Westbrook's
NBA Most Valuable Player win in 2017. Phonte has composed multiple raps for
Sesame Street characters, including a song for
SZA’s
Sesame Street appearance with a duet with
Elmo entitled "Gratitude," in addition to other songs including "Apple vs. Banana" ft. Tavi Fields and "BBQ vs. Hike." He was a member of "Team Supreme", co-hosting
Questlove's podcast,
Questlove Supreme from 2016 to 2025.
Questlove Supreme won six
Webby Awards and the 2023 Music Podcast of the Year for the
iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. ==Discography==