Little Brother was one of the great rap duos (or trio, counting the era of producer 9th Wonder) of the century, one who has left an impression on the current landscape of hip hop. The Listening and The Minstrel Show were loved by anyone and everyone, all while being tagged as the De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest of the 2000 decade. Little Brother proved that you could be successful in hip-hop without succumbing to the pressures of “going pop.” For as much love as the name Little Brother was given, about double the hate or disrespect was directed toward one third of this triumvirate. Rapper Big Pooh always took a backseat to Phonte in listener’s minds. Bloggers (and haters) frequently miscredited Rapper Big Pooh’s importance to the group. There is no doubt that Phonte is the better rapper, but it doesn’t make much sense that Rapper Big Pooh was always criticized so much. There was all this buzz around Phonte’s lines and 9th Wonder’s beats, but not so much about Rapper Big Pooh’s lines. Personally, I think he had a lot of memorable verses- the title track on The Listening to name one. It’s not like anyone ever felt the need to fast forward through Pooh’s bars just to get to Phonte. When Little Brother decided to call it quits, there was this general consensus that Phonte's career was about to take off even more as both a rapper and a singer and that Rapper Big Pooh’s career was over. That’s not what Rapper Big Pooh was thinking. Enter Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 1
Rapper Big Pooh spends a considerable amount of time on Fatboy Fresh Vol. 1 addressing these naysayers. His whole attitude has this “eff what you think, I’ve experienced a lot, and enjoyed my life” tone. Consider this line from “Zone Out":
“So what, I’m not the best by your best standard/still livin’ my life like I planned it/still rough around the edges/F em’, why sand it?/Like to stick em’ in the sides '''til’ they can’t stand it/Don’t respond to wannabes, you can all can it.”
Or the chorus from “Let it Be”:
“I used to spend a lot time trying to give ya’ll the best of me/and for my family and friends, they got the rest of me/I used to think this rap thing was my destiny, but I’m content now to let it be.”
Those are pretty strong words and quite frankly the opposite of what most rappers claim they are feeling. Most say they’ve got “the crown” and that they are the best at what they do. It sounds like a lot of what Big Pooh is saying here is that he doesn’t give a damn. Just because he lets people know how he feels, is he really proving them wrong in doing that? Not really. Nine of the thirteen tracks have guests features, and although this album was put out by For Members Only rather than the Hall of Justice/6 Hole staple, there are still a lot of HOJ artists on the tracks. To add to that, he's only throwing down one verse on about eight of these tracks. If Rapper Big Pooh really had the intentions of proving people wrong he should have done this album Illmatic style with minimal guest appearances. He's not trying to establish his own brand or separate himself as an artist." The fact of the matter is Rapper Big Pooh just doesn’t care what you think or how successful he can be (in his mind he already is), so he just did Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 1 however he felt comfortable. Although the album is enjoyable, it underachieves for his lack of caring. Additionally, you will be feeling empty when tracks end and you haven’t heard from Phonte. I wonder if people will feel disappointed when they don’t hear Rapper Big Pooh on every track on Phonte’s upcoming collaboration album with 9th Wonder. Doubtful.
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