Just as the concept of meaningful fun music centered around quality beats and rhymes seemed lost earlier this decade, the Justus League showed up seemingly out of thin air. Without a formerly established buzz, the collective brainchild of North Carolina’s Cesar Comanche and producer 9th Wonder made the internet flock like hounds, considered by many to restore faith when matters seemed hopeless.

Without question, the League’s breakout success story was Little Brother. Sprinkling songs “Whatever You Say” and “Speed” online served to wet appetites for the full length debut The Listening, which sent a seismic shift through the underground. No longer was independent hip hop solely dedicated to bearing grudges against what the culture had become, The Listening represented the hearts, minds and feelings of those raised by the golden age.

The fleshed out vision of 9th along with rappers Phonte & Big Pooh, Little Brother was more concerned with making well balanced music than being painted into the lonely corner where backpackers await cultural saviors. For example, they delved into the trials and tribulations of the rat race on the aforementioned “Speed,” and the group was unafraid to explore the concept of budding romance on “Nobody But You,” both songs with singing hooks (largely considered an anomaly to “real” hip hoppers. As well, the pink elephant that had become the spoken word coffee house subgenre was eloquently (albeit playfully) picked
apart by Phonte on “The Yo Yo.”

Looking back on the group’s beginnings, Phonte says “I think it was something that was truly God given.  We were brought into each others lives to bring our music to the world and hopefully inspire people. We were just happy to be making records.” True to his rapping persona, Big Pooh’s reflections on LB’s start are blunt and edgy as he states “I just see a lot of youth and naiveté. We were at the front of the whole acts getting recognized and signed via the internet movement. We helped make it ok for cats to make music being themselves.”

Though The Listening was widely considered brilliant breath of fresh air, its title track was stark irony as ABB Records showed a considerable lack of concern in promoting and distributing the group. Shooting for the stars and signing with Atlantic Records, the group’s grittier sophomore effort The Minstrel Show wasn’t granted much more favor, leaving fans baffled at labels refusing to push the envelope and break true talent.

To make matters worse, the heads of programming at BET reportedly said the video for The Minstrel Show’s single “Lovin It” was too intelligent to receive airplay. Like any embattled warrior in combat, a fed up Phonte took the network and his labels to task with hisscathing verse from “Boondock Saints.” This song was featured on Separate But Equal, a mixtape that could be considered the start of what became the group’s DIY mindset, as it spread their name where
corporate interests failed to. Regarding their music industry woes, Big Pooh says “The music business is 95 percent business and 5 percent music.” Phonte concurs, saying “The main thing I learned is that no label will work as hard for you as you will work for yourself. Ultimately, being signed to any type of label just ain't the move for me.”

Since Little Brother’s initial foray, 9th Wonder has gone on to record with luminaries such as Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Destiny’s Child and Ludacris, while Phonte has given mainstream R&B quite the suitable alternative in his Foreign Exchange union with Nicolay and Big Pooh’s burgeoning solo career has kept his name alive in the underground. The group’s MCs joined forces for what was possibly their final hurrah with the 2007 album Getback. No less stellar than any of their
extensive catalog up to that point, there was the notable absence of producer 9th Wonder from a partnership that once seemed sent from the heavens. With only vague mention made by Phonte on Getback’s “That Aint Love”, the three gentlemen have neglected to go the public route like many of hip hop’s fallouts (i.e. Rocafella Records). Regarding Getback, Phonte says “Me and Pooh were just looking for different sounds and ways to put a new twist on our old formula”, with Pooh remarking “We took a lot of heat with the 9th departure but people realized we were more than capable of still making dope records.”

Going on a decade since their formation, 9th Wonder, Big Pooh and Phonte have come far from their humble beginnings. The producer has gone on to secure multiple label deals to put out his own artists, and while Pooh steadily grinds with his own music, Phonte has become one of urban music’s most ubiquitous figures. Between backing the careers of his Foreign Exchange family, doing countless guest appearances alongside comrades and hosting the thriving Gordon Gartrell Radio podcast, not to mention a reported solo album in the works, you never know where he’ll show up next.

In a word, Little Brother’s music can be summarized as feeling. Each of their songs inspired a range of traits from emotion, introspection and humor and determination to name a few. They rode the fine line between the mainstream and underground, sounding at home alongside everyone from Mos Def to Lil Wayne and stood for the uplifting of hip hop most of all. When asked about their legacy, Phonte says “I'd just want us to be remembered as three cats that made music that everyday people could see themselves in.” Pooh chimes in agreement “I don't think I really understood how many people we actually touched
until after Getback. I get asked no less than 10 times a day about another Little Brother album. Our legacy will be that we consistently put out good music. No matter label situation, group situation, or personal, we kept it fresh.”