Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
When Phonte Coleman of the group Little Brother announced in March 2022 that there would be a documentary about the group coming in 2023, like many people, I was excited. I have been a fan of the group since I first heard in 2002 when I used to use the University of Maryland-College Park’s tremendous ethernet speed to bolster my bootleg CD collection. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was downloading songs from what would be their debut album, “The Listening.” I was pretty much all in from the jump and have been through all of their albums, both as a “collective” (more on this later) and individually — in particular 9th Wonder, the group’s producer who has become a well-renowned producer, professor and DJ, and Phonte whose solo work, television work and albums as part of Foreign Exchange are basically the soundtrack to my life post-graduation from college.
They’ve also been part of my life because to know Little Brother is to also know them because of the group’s “are-they-or aren’t-they-a-group?” dance that has been happening (at least to us fans) for doggone near the entirety of the group’s public existence. The documentary, “May the Lord Watch” (which also shares the same title as their 2019 album) — released on Nov. 24 via YouTube — promised to address that very question and it did not disappoint. I would imagine most fans of the group watched the documentary and had a bunch of thoughts, feelings and reflections based on what we saw in the documentary, which…
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