Little Brother - May the Lord Watch (Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter TheDarceKnight
- Start date
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
That’s the order I’d go too. I think AMP is also dope.
I do think 9th when he’s on is very on though. His chopping skills are top shelf, and his best beats as corny as it sounds do give me a warm vibe and head nod that’s super dope and enjoyable. But in terms of raw skill I don’t disagree with you.
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
Yeah and I have to admit that by posting in this thread I am perpetuating the problem, and I should probably stop that shyt. I agree with your post for sure. I just enjoy the gossip lol.
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
NYK Loyalist
All Star
Album of the year for me. I haven’t listened to anything else that’s dropped as much as I’ve listened to this
bigdaddy88
The King Of Power
i woudnt say hes overrated, just that the last 5 years or so have been kinda mild.
Eric G fell off to me ,the rest of been good to great. its just on the collective projects that feature the soul council i haven't been
or
just kinda
or
murs new album was good but some of them beats were just soulless(ironically) some of the beats on the new rapsody just weren't hitting like they should have 
( great album but the middle part of it is kinda 
)
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
“The irony is that the magic of May the Lord Watch winds up sounding as if it were produced by one person—in the wake of one person’s attempt to produce the whole album.
“We had to show people that producers are not important. Little Brother is what is important. We are the creative spirits that drive this,” Phonte says. “Not taking anything away from the producers and what they brought to the table, because these nikkas are monsters. But, again, take them same producers and put them with any other rapper, group, or duo, and you’re not going to get this.”
“We had to show people that producers are not important. Little Brother is what is important. We are the creative spirits that drive this,” Phonte says. “Not taking anything away from the producers and what they brought to the table, because these nikkas are monsters. But, again, take them same producers and put them with any other rapper, group, or duo, and you’re not going to get this.”
CAVEMAN
PyrexPyramid
Te & Pooh basically saying here that they still feel hurt that he abandoned them, calling him a deadbeat dad. They the ones unwilling to just fit 9th in somewhere and let it be.
How they gonna be mad at him being down to do the whole album for them, but then turn around reject his offer of "ok then I'll just sign off on the one beat yall wanted and some festival shows" by saying that to them "it was all or nothing" ??? They wanted him to join them on an entire tour for 1 beat?
also Phonte saying "If you’re willing to work with me, I will stay through the mud with you until it’s over” while he is the one rejecting the beats that 9th is sending them, -- if 9th is sending em beats then obviously 9th is willing to work with em. Sounds like they the ones choosing not to stay thru the mud with him, unless he perfectly jumps thru the exact hoops they want, and only those.
Album is good. They dont need eachother, but I bet that one song was good.
I await the future where this is not the big talking point around every Little Brother album. I think that'd be easiest accomplished by having him just lace a couple beats lowkey and stop pursuing the question of whether he'll be a full-time member again at all. And if they want to, then maybe do a collab album one day as Little Brother & 9th Wonder. like, Curren$y doesnt demand that Alchemist go on a nationwide tour with him just to be able to do his beats for an album. Just work and let it work.
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
More from @Brandwin
Studio Sessions I Little Brother talks latest album, disagreements with 9th Wonder, Jemele Hill skits on their project and more
When in the process of making the album, was it apparent that you both weren’t recording it with 9th Wonder?
Big Pooh: That happened quick.
Phonte: Yeah, that happened in December. It was fairly quick into the process. It was just a thing where it really came down to two really big issues that we saw that made it an untenable situation. The first big thing was we had very different ideas about what production was. We did start it with the three of us and there was, in the beginning, us saying, ‘OK. We’re going to do this. Let’s do this as a unit. We’re back in. Let’s go.’ 9th saw production purely as being the beat-maker. I saw production as more of a Quincy Jones orchestrator and arranger.
9th felt he should do every beat on the album and started sending us tracks. There were some that hit. A lot of them didn’t. It wasn’t that the beats were bad, they just weren’t moving us. He felt entitled to make all the beats and didn’t want any other producers on the album. The thing about it is, [Little Brother] has been a group without 9th longer than it’s been one with him. So, if you’re coming back to this thing, you have to honor what that thing became in your absence and then, figure out together how do we mix the old of what people know and the new of what a lot of people know.
He didn’t want any other producers on the album. Pete Rock; The Soul Council, his own squad, he didn’t want them on the joint. We were like, 'Nah. You don’t get to dictate that. You come back to participate. You don’t come back to dictate. That ain’t happening.'
Big Pooh: Yeah. That can’t happen.
Phonte: The second big point was we had very different views of what commitment meant. In the beginning, it started off as, ‘Yo, man. I’m here. I want to be a part of everything. I want to be here for it all.’ Once he saw that he wasn’t going to do every beat on the album, then it became, ‘OK, when we do these shows, what if I just do the festival shows and we have DJ Flash do the regular shows?’ Nah. Halfway in is all the way out. To have your devotion to something be contingent on how much glory you’re going to get out of it, that really rubbed us the wrong way. The last conversation we had, I was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Keep the tracks that you did.’ We scrapped his songs and were like, 'We’ll just rebuild this shyt from scratch all over again.'"
Wow. Just so we're clear, there were songs recorded with you two over 9th Wonder beats for this album?
Big Pooh: Yeah, we did three records.
Phonte: One was good. Another one, we thought was good. Then, the other one was just like, ‘Ehh.’ The thing about it was, the ones that we thought were good, they were only good at that time. Once we finished the record, and went back and saw what we created, it was like, ‘Nah. That wasn’t it.’ It was only good because we didn’t know better was capable, once we got to better and great. But, there ain’t no beef. There’s just clarity.
Studio Sessions I Little Brother talks latest album, disagreements with 9th Wonder, Jemele Hill skits on their project and more
When in the process of making the album, was it apparent that you both weren’t recording it with 9th Wonder?
Big Pooh: That happened quick.
Phonte: Yeah, that happened in December. It was fairly quick into the process. It was just a thing where it really came down to two really big issues that we saw that made it an untenable situation. The first big thing was we had very different ideas about what production was. We did start it with the three of us and there was, in the beginning, us saying, ‘OK. We’re going to do this. Let’s do this as a unit. We’re back in. Let’s go.’ 9th saw production purely as being the beat-maker. I saw production as more of a Quincy Jones orchestrator and arranger.
9th felt he should do every beat on the album and started sending us tracks. There were some that hit. A lot of them didn’t. It wasn’t that the beats were bad, they just weren’t moving us. He felt entitled to make all the beats and didn’t want any other producers on the album. The thing about it is, [Little Brother] has been a group without 9th longer than it’s been one with him. So, if you’re coming back to this thing, you have to honor what that thing became in your absence and then, figure out together how do we mix the old of what people know and the new of what a lot of people know.
He didn’t want any other producers on the album. Pete Rock; The Soul Council, his own squad, he didn’t want them on the joint. We were like, 'Nah. You don’t get to dictate that. You come back to participate. You don’t come back to dictate. That ain’t happening.'
Big Pooh: Yeah. That can’t happen.
Phonte: The second big point was we had very different views of what commitment meant. In the beginning, it started off as, ‘Yo, man. I’m here. I want to be a part of everything. I want to be here for it all.’ Once he saw that he wasn’t going to do every beat on the album, then it became, ‘OK, when we do these shows, what if I just do the festival shows and we have DJ Flash do the regular shows?’ Nah. Halfway in is all the way out. To have your devotion to something be contingent on how much glory you’re going to get out of it, that really rubbed us the wrong way. The last conversation we had, I was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Keep the tracks that you did.’ We scrapped his songs and were like, 'We’ll just rebuild this shyt from scratch all over again.'"
Wow. Just so we're clear, there were songs recorded with you two over 9th Wonder beats for this album?
Big Pooh: Yeah, we did three records.
Phonte: One was good. Another one, we thought was good. Then, the other one was just like, ‘Ehh.’ The thing about it was, the ones that we thought were good, they were only good at that time. Once we finished the record, and went back and saw what we created, it was like, ‘Nah. That wasn’t it.’ It was only good because we didn’t know better was capable, once we got to better and great. But, there ain’t no beef. There’s just clarity.
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
They aren't mad at him.
They did closer to 5 joints together. Not just 1.
9th wanted to do the entire album. He didn't want Khrysis on there. No Nicolay. No Pete Rock. No Nottz. No anyone that LB had done beats with since as early as day 1. I mean Khrysis had joints with LB going back to before The Listening even dropped. 9th didn't even produce all of The Listening or The Minstrel Show, and he only did a little over half of each Chitlin Circuit. And on top of that 9th didn't want to do any touring (which he never wanted to at ANY point in the group's history, and he only did one brief tour in 2003). All this after he was not a part of the group longer than he ever was a part of it (as he was basically just in from 2001-2003).
I was with those dudes when they made The Minstrel Show. 9th wasn't in the studio recording it with them. Khrysis was. That album was theirs. 9th didn't participate. They aren't mad at him now. They just didn't want him coming back trying to be throw his weight around for something he ain't been a part of since 2003.
And I don't think this will be a talking point going forward, just for the record. People love this album for what it is and they are FINALLY accepted as a duo. It's been lovely. Phonte and Pooh are FINALLY real friends. I think that's the big talking point, and the one that's really dope.
There's just some more info trickling in now about 9th and why he wasn't a part of things, but he basically hasn't been talked about since the album dropped at all, and if you listen to any of the 3 main podcasts they've done so far they don't mention him. The bigger story here is that Phonte and Pooh dropped an amazing album on their terms, and have always been the driving force behind LB since as early as the Chitlin Circuit tapes that dropped starting in 2003.
Last edited:
Mortal1
Superstar
I'm five songs in and I'm amazed how much they were able to pick up right from Minstrel Show. Album is pretty dope brehs ran it back at least 4 times now
Last edited:
The point is that LB started as a GROUP and got praise and critical acclaim as such even when 9th effectively left said group and continued reaping the acclaim (Minstrel Show). They did TWO more albums and a mixtape without 9th, effectively carrying on the group’s legacy, while 9th got to do his own thing. Now, years later, 9th thinks he can come back and dictate terms of production? When Phonte and Pooh basically carried the name for about 6 years by themselves? Remember, 9th hadn’t produced EVERY beat on a LB album since The Listening.
Sometimes you can go back. Somebody like The RZA, who hand crafted 2 group albums and 5 solo albums for his group members, can make that call (and even then not without controversy and pushback) but 9th ain’t got the RZA’s pedigree. Pooh put together his own solo albums. Phonte damn near is a one man band. Both Phonte and Pooh proved EARLY that the could succeed without 9th. So for them, getting a 9th Wonder beat doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. What matters is having 9th ready and willing to tour, be in the studio, and truly collaborate. And at this point, if ANY two
MC’s on this planet have a right to reject 9th Wonder beats, its Pooh and Te.
steadyrighteous
Veteran
I've played "All in a Day" more than any other song on this album.
Tigallo's verse is flawless.
"My rate of jewels per verse is just perverse"
:faketears:
And Pooh killed it too
"I brought my lunch pail to work every day, you decide to walk away that's when they wanna sing your praises like [BLACKNESS!]"
Tigallo's verse is flawless.
"My rate of jewels per verse is just perverse"
:faketears:
And Pooh killed it too
"I brought my lunch pail to work every day, you decide to walk away that's when they wanna sing your praises like [BLACKNESS!]"
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
Yep. And even on The Listening 9th didn’t do every beat. Eccentric did the Get Up. Fun trivia. It was track 13. That’s why they put the track Khrysis did on Minstrel Show at track 13 too.
But yeah. This isn’t a RZA mastermind situation. RZA crafted all those early Wu group and solo albums. I’m pretty sure 9th didn’t even know what the final cut of Pooh’s first solo sounded like until Sleepers had been not only mixed and mastered, but pressed up. And Phonte had been flexing his own chops as an arranger, track sequencer, and producer on listening and especially Connected with foreign exchange.
The Justus League was a huge crew, with 5 producers, 8 emcees, and others that didn’t do either. This dude Mike was in the league and was just a cool ass dude everyone liked. There were so many sub-groups. 9th, Phonte, Pooh, and Chaundon had a group called GIMME. Khrysis and Sean Boog were the Away Team. Legacy and Chaundon were the Embassy. There wasn’t one mastermind. Hell if Median hasn’t ghosted on the Speed session, LB would’ve been him, Phonte, and 9th.
The Wu situation doesn’t compare that well IMO.
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
Most underrated joint on the album I think along with EverythingI've played "All in a Day" more than any other song on this album.
Tigallo's verse is flawless.
"My rate of jewels per verse is just perverse"
:faketears:
And Pooh killed it too
"I brought my lunch pail to work every day, you decide to walk away that's when they wanna sing your praises like [BLACKNESS!]"