Anyone who has ever discussed music with me knows that I have a serious man-crush on two people: Drummer Zach Velmer from Sound Tribe Sector 9, and Rapper/Singer Phonte Coleman from the hip-hop duo Little Brother. While I have spent hundreds of dollars and weeks of my life following Sound Tribe, I have spent many more hours dissecting Phonte's raps. There are probably better rappers in the history of hip-hop than Phonte, (Big L anyone?) but Phonte is the rapper I can relate to, point blank period. For evidence, I submit my ten favorite Phonte lines for your consideration....You be the judge:10) "I am retail's nightmare/Young, black and just don't give a fuck/I just want my discount, give it up/20% off slacks and all clothes/I just took this job to spice up my wardrobe" - "Last Day," off the And Justus For All mixtape.
In this track, Phonte kills the Dead Prez feat. Onyx "Last Days" beat (good choice 'Te). He chronicles his time working at a department store by breaking down the way that the different races interact with each other within the store. What ensues is a genuinely hilarious look at racism. What's that? You're not down with racism? It's ok, at the beginning of the track, Phonte can be heard saying "Don't get offended at this track, I'm an equal opportunity racist. I hate all y'all."
9) "And they say that money change you/But money don't change you/It just makes you more of who you already are." - "That Ain't Love" feat. Jozeemo off the Getback album
If you've ever known someone who didn't have dough and then got a little dough, I think you'd probably agree.
8) "One night we was out in my whip/With some broads, just chilling, playing demos and shit/Asked 'em how I sounded rockin' the mic/One chick told me all she listen to is beats, thank God for 9th!/Tryin' to get it pressed on vinyl/Cuz motherfuckers buy your CD, turn around, and don't even know the song title/Like track 2 is hot! But track 6 is long/Ain't even listening, I'm hopin' I get proved wrong." - "The Listening" off The Listening album.
For a long time I felt like this, that no matter how much garbage you spit, as long as you have a good ear for beats, you could be successful in hip-hop. Let's call this "the Dipset Era," because those fools, Cam'Ron especially, made a killing for 3-4 years off of saying nothing over beats like "Oh Boy" and "Down & Out," certified club bangers. In this excerpt, Phonte shouts out 9th Wonder, who was doing all of the beats for the group at the time, and identifies a well-documented problem of the Compact Disc era, when lyrics and songs took a back seat to beats and albums.
7) "Y'all can't do it like 'Te do it/I can't stop, won't stop, like a Ford Explorer without the brake fluid." - "The Get Up" off of The Listening album.
In this line, Phonte turns a tired ass hip-hop cliche (How many times have you heard "can't stop, won't stop" since the 'Puff Daddy' era?) into a slick simile.
6) "Mama was like 'baby, now I hate to see your tears/But I been with your daddy for 'bout 35 years/And in my day I had to turn a blind eye to cheatin'/But I ain't never have to wear no black eyes from beatin's/As long as he doin' right by you and your kids/How you gon' expect that man not to be who he is/I ain't sayin' that it's right/But we often pay the price/Cuz a woman's life is love, a man's love is life.'" - "Breakin' My Heart" feat. Lil' Wayne off the Getback album.
Throughout the Little Brother catalog, there are a few times when it is apparent to me that Phonte came up with a hot line and then worked backwards to set up that line. In this verse, Phonte quotes the mother of his girlfriend while trying to comfort her, basically saying that as long as Phonte takes care of her, she might have to deal with a little infidelity. It all leads up to the best one-liner on Getback, "Cuz a woman's life is love, a man's love is life."
5) "We started making money, doing some traveling/But at home my family live was steady unraveling/Me and old girl wasn't seeing eye to eye, just shacking up laying thigh to thigh." - "Next Day," Hiphopsite.com bonus track.
If you've never been in a slightly dysfunctional relationship where basically the only thing that was working was the sex, you're lucky. 99% of us have, and it sucks. 'Te really strikes a chord with this one.
4) "I take this shit personally/I'm making moves/But this treadmill lifestyle ain't working for me." - "Speed" off of The Listening album.
My life in a nutshell. I fucking scream this line every time I listen to this song.
3) "Ima put it on wax and give you the raw facts and truth about life and the things I'm dealin' with/Black folks saying that I'm too intelligent/And white folks saying I'm a little too n*ggerish/It's got me in a strange predicament/I wish BET and MTV would judge more wisely/But I don't know whats worse/The fact that they ain't playing our shit?/Or the fact that it don't even surprise me?/Because I ain't shuckin' and cuz I ain't jivin'/Some of these crackers won't stand beside me/And cuz I ain't killing and don't support pimping/Some of these n*ggas wanna call me a Cosby/Well? I'll be that dude/I'll scratch that itch/I'll play that role/Call me Heathcliff, bitch!" "Boondock Saints" off the Separate but Equal mixtape.
When Little Brother released its first video off of the Minstrel Show album, "Lovin' It," BET refused to air it. It was widely publicized that BET had issued a press release saying that the video was "Too intelligent" for its viewers. In all fairness to BET, no such press release has ever been located. However, the video never aired until months past the peak of its popularity, and the damage had been done. In this verse, Phonte just shits on those fools, plain and simple. Maybe LB is too intelligent for the 106 & Park crowd.
2) "Used to have a fetish for weed, women, and grapes, and I liked them all seedless." - "On the Way" off The Chitlin' Circuit 1.5 mixtape.
Pure gold. If you don't like this line, you and I probably wouldn't get along.
1) "Sometimes I think I'm from another world/When I'm trying to tell a woman just exactly where I stand at/I want a girl when I want a girl/And when I don't want a girl I want a girl who understands that." - "Slow it Down" off The Minstrel Show album.
Again, pure Michael Phelps. When I first heard this line, I ran it back probably 5-6 times. I've dissected it every way possible, and the fact of the matter is that it's still one of my favorite lines ever.
Did I forget any? Feel free to let me know...
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