2005 was seemingly the year of Kanye West. Thankfully, listeners (myself included) who quickly tired of Late Registration‘s over-inflated ego, middling rhymes and abomination of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move on Up” had a much less promoted record to savor: Little Brother’s “The Minstrel Show.”
Hailing from Raleigh-Durham, NC, Little Brother may have reached their peak with this, an album that delivers fresh beats one after the other while loosely spoofing the role of black America in the music industry. Without being too serious about anything in particular, the trio presents what is essentially the anti-Kanye. Where he swaggers, they self-deprecate; where he proclaims, they question; where he indulges, they minimize. The result is great hip-hop, sympathetic enough to move you but confident enough to make you throw your hands up, and executed with a relaxed subtlety and flair that places the emphasis on having a good time.
“Slow It Down” exemplifies this approach. Appropriating choice clips of David Ruffin’s “Slow Dance,” producer 9th Wonder turns near-invisible hooks and vocal tics into memorable musical anchors. The resulting beat is more timeless than the sample source, which is more or less stock late 70’s R&B. Over the cut, MCs Big Pooh and Phonte rap about the unease of relationships, offering an introspective and ambivalent take on attraction. It’s down-to-earth, intelligent and just plain dope, leaving me to wonder if I’m the only one who thinks that Kanye West makes inaccessible music.
