Customer Reviews

The Minstrel Show

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This is the best album of 2005 as of October (Common, Zion I, and Danger Doom receive honourable mention).

The title and concept of the album is an obvious satire of they perceive the current state of hip-hop culture. In short, they feel that many of the mainstream members of the hip-hop community are objectifying themselves for financial success. In other words, hip-hop has become a minstrel show.

The album contains perhaps the most effective use of skits in years. The skits do not function as album filler, but rather help portray the theme of the album. Although the skits are light-hearted in nature, there is an underlying cynicism towards hip-hop that reminds me much of De La Soul's masterpiece "De La Soul Is Dead."

Little Brother is not as experimental or conceptual as other underground artists such as Atmosphere, MF Doom, or Madlib. Rather, they are little more grounded in reality, and take after the traditions of the Native Tongues.

It is obvious that they are just big fans of hip-hop, pure and simple. Like directors Quentin Tarantion or Kevin Smith, their work celebrates the craft itself. They do not necessarily make music to change the world (not that there's anything wrong with that), it seems that they make music just because they enjoy it.

Aside from their satire of mainstream/commerical hip-hop, Little Brother stays aways from the pretentiousness and moralizing that can be frequent within the underground hip-hop scene.

The result, is perhaps, a more accessible product to the hip-hop fans who are not ready to get lost in the metaphors and concepts of the an Atmosphere, or the instrospection of K-os.

Rather, Little Brother just focuses on the art of hip-hop itself by making, "dope beats, dope rhymes, what more could y'all want?"

this is one epic album for the underground listeners, hiphop done right
one to choose if you havnt herd much from them