Little Brother The Minstrel Show Review
Posted by Selwyn DeSa on 12.19.2005
Maybe they will they suffer the faith of real life little brothers everywhere and be ignored.
I have been looking forward to reviewing this album from quite some time as it received a lot of hype for a relatively unknown group. I have not heard much from them before but what I did hear I enjoyed, as it seemed to be a more intelligent sort of hip-hop. Will the trend continue with The Minstrel Show? On the other hand, maybe they will they suffer the faith of real life little brothers everywhere and be ignored.
Bump
Track 2) Beautiful Morning: If the opener is supposed to set the tone for the entire album then I am expecting big things, definitely a different not of the norm vibe set here.
Track 3) The Becoming: This is the song I heard, that first got me interested in Little Brother and it seems a lot better as it is setup with the first track, very good track.
Track 4) Not Enough: Very honest track about all the work they have put in to get where they are, Darien Brockington adds to it with a nicely with the chorus.
Track 6) Hiding Place: This song has some of the best rhymes I have heard in quite some time, they all came strong including Elzhi who guest appears, bump it loud.
Track 7) Slow It Down: I would describe this as a slow serenade with some incredible rhymes and Darien Brockington once again adding to the chorus nicely.
Track 8) Say It Again: This is another dope track as they celebrate their arrival on the scene by saying it again.
Track 10) Lovin It: I am starting to notice that a lot of the beats and choruses are not that great but the rhymes are just so phenomenal it does not even matter, that is the case here on this track, which features Joe Scudda.
Track 12) All For You: This track is the exception as the beat and rhymes are equally on point in this deep track.
Track 13) Watch Me: Right when I start talking about the beats lacking, they start picking up, luckily, the rhymes do not diminish and we get another bumping track.
Track 14) Sincerely Yours: A letter in rhyme form, very well done on all fronts.
Track 15) Still Lives Through: It should tell you how awesome this album has been up to this point, as this is one of the worst tracks but it still extremely enjoyable.
Track 17) We Got Now: They should have found a better way to close things out after such an impressive outing but not at all worth skipping.
Skip
Track 1) Welcome to the Minstrel Show: Well I will admit that it is not as boring or unoriginal as other introductions I have heard but it is an introduction and we want to get to the music.
Track 5) Cheatin: Hey, they can sing too, not a great song but I respect the ability to switch it up and make an Usher-esque type song, unfortunately, I am not a Usher fan.
Track 9) 5th & Fashion: Here is another skit that is better than the usual, but still not necessary.
Track 11) Diary of a Mad Black Man Skit: We just had a skit; do we really need another so soon?
Track 16) Minstrel Show Closing Theme: At least they had the sense to back this with a track.
This is definitely one of the best albums of the year; it is almost an injustice to try to explain. It is definitely more intelligent than your average hip-hop with clever lyricism that can make you think and shake your ass at the same time. This probably will not be the future of hip-hop but it definitely should be.
The 411: Little Brother chose to be clever rather than explicit and still manage to put together an album that can appeal to the mainstream and underground fan-base. This will go down as a highly original and innovative album, and unfortunately will probably never get the credit it truly deserves. I highly recommend it for all.
