Episode 380 - Phonte Coleman

Phonte Coleman is best known as a founding member of hip-hop group Little Brother, and as one of the co‑hosts of the podcast Questlove Supreme with Questlove. 

In the late 90s, Phonte met Thomas “Big Pooh” Jones and Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit and they started making music together as the hip-hop collective, Justus League and released their first album The Listening in 2003. They changed their name to Little Brother and signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and released The Minstrel Show in 2005. They left Atlantic not long after and then released Getback in 2007 and Leftback in 2010, but then disbanded. 

Phonte and Big Pooh reunited in 2018 at the Art of Cool Festival and started working on the album May the Lord Watch which came out the following year. There’s a documentary called May the Lord Watch you can find online that tells their story, from founding to breakup to reunion. Their final tour which is underway now.

Phonte is also co-founder of the Grammy-nominated group The Foreign Exchange with Dutch producer Nicolay. They’ve put out six studio albums and several singles. 

SONG 1: “Think (About It)” by Lyn Collins from the 1972 album of the same name. 

https://youtu.be/vCByeJsq65M?si=e6yfkujwMOUfo5iz

SONG 2: “Word Play” by A Tribe Called Quest off their 1996 album Beats, Rhymes and Life.

https://youtu.be/LfWtkay3lEo?si=VnnVZE9s5eCZEx-p

SONG 3: Natalie Cole's “La Costa” released in 1977 on her album Thankful.

https://youtu.be/E1ckb_LDGnA?si=gqZpULJymfyKuCru