The North Carolina
trio of Phonte, Big Pooh, and producer 9th Wonder, collectively known as Little
Brother, recently participated in a Hip-Hop Summit at their Alma Mater, North
Carolina Central University, on Wednesday (Feb. 8).
The one-day summit
was established to address social issues within the Hip-Hop community and allow
aspiring Hip-Hop enthusiasts to display their skills and talents. The Hip-Hop
Summit also gave students a chance to network with industry professionals.
Producer 9th Wonder
said the group was elated to help with the first annual event at NCCU, where
they met as students in the ’90s.
"Education
is where it starts and we need to start educating our youth about [where] we
came [from], not necessarily the Civil Rights Movement," 9th Wonder told
AllHipHop.com. "We need to start educating about Hip-Hop music. Once we
do that, it’ll be better for the future."
During the event,
Little Brother also spoke to attendees about the influence Hip-Hop has had on
the community.
"You don’t
necessarily have to have all the money or the jewelry or the women or the drugs,"
said Rapper Big Pooh. "That’s not a prerequisite for being Hip-Hop. That’s
not a prerequisite for being a rapper.
"[Rap came]
from the community, speaking about the community, speaking for the people in
it," he continued. "It was music that was uplifting communities. It
was something positive. Now music is used to destroy."
9th Wonder also
weighed in on the state of Hip-Hop in one panel discussion.
"Greed is
behind Hip-Hop’s current emphasis on violence and sexual exploitation,"
9th Wonder said. "The current generation of Hip-Hop fans should remember
its beginning in the 1970’s, when early artists sought a way to give inner-city
kids a form of cultural expression."
Another facet
of Little Brother’s return to NCCU, a traditionally African-American university,
included talking to a group of area kids. Phonte said the conversations were
surprisingly candid.
"Some of
the kids had better questions than the adults. It was a bunch of Girl’s and
Boys Club kids, from 8th grade to 11th grade. He ended up taking them all to
Burger King. It was like 30 or 40 kids up in Burger King. It was pandemonium,"
Phonte said. "We had a good time."
Dr. James H. Ammons,
the chancellor of NCCU, made a groundbreaking announcement during his closing
remarks at the summit, which was sponsored by Atlantic Records and organized
by Sherise Malachi, an Atlantic employee and NCCU grad.
"I’d like
to let you know that we have plans for an annual Hip-Hop Summit that has intellectual
discussions on the campus of North Carolina Central University," Ammons
said.
In related news,
Little Brother recently embarked on a long-awaited North American tour with
rap group Fort Minor to support their critically-acclaimed 2005 major label
debut, The Minstrel Show.
The tour, which
began in Minneapolis, ended last night (Feb. 10) in Washington, DC.