The Listening, by Little Brother

The story goes that two young [American] football players at North Carolina Central Univerity (NCCU) shed their pads in 2001, picked up mics, and paired with a hermetic student obsessed with stripping soul songs for parts on his computer to create something that made them move.

Little Brother was born, and this, the group’s first album, grabbed the music industry’s attention quickly. With unconventional soul and jazz samples laced throughout (before these became synonymous to Kanye), poetic lyrics about the mundane punctuated by melodic choruses, and a humorous framing device.

Years later, it’s incredible to see that this oddly-named group from Durham, North Carolina gave us one of the most revered MCs (Phonte) and hip hop producers (9th Wonder) to grace the mic and TR-808. Oh, and one of the best hip hop albums not talked about enough.