Phonte

Phonte Lyshod Coleman,^[1] known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, producer, actor, and voice over artist. He is a member of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. His music spans multiple genres including R&B, hip-hop, house and electronic music.

Phonte Coleman was born in Lumberton, North Carolina, and was raised in Red Springs, North Carolina. His family moved to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1987-1988. He grew up singing in a church choir, and played trumpet starting in middle school and participating in the North Carolina All-State Band. He also played football in high school, then as a fullback for two years at North Carolina Central University, where he was an English major.

Little Brother is an underground hip-hop group composed of Phonte, rapper Big Pooh and producer 9th Wonder. The group met in 1998, while attending North Carolina Central University.^[2] The three shared common musical interests and decided to form a group. "Speed", the group's first song recorded together, led to them signing a deal with the independent ABB Records in 2002, and recording their debut album, The Listening.^[3] The forums of the website Okayplayer were ignited by interest from a growing fanbase.^[4] The album's success led to the group signing a non-exclusive deal with Atlantic Records in 2004.

The group's 2005 album, The Minstrel Show, was a concept album based on a fictional television network called "UBN" (U Black Niggas Network). The album has been described as satirizing the connection between minstrel shows and stereotypical industry and self-constructions of Blackness in entertainment and advertisements.^[5] The album received positive reviews, without commercial success. During the recording of their third album, the group announced the departure of 9th Wonder, as well as a parting of ways with their label. They returned to ABB Records and released Getback in late 2007. Getback was Little Brother's first album as a duo.^[6] In 2010, they released their fourth studio album, Leftback.

In 2023, Little Brother released the documentary film, May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story about the group's history,^[7] which was directed by Holland Randolph Gallagher.

Phonte met Dutch producer Nicolay virtually on an Okayplayer message board.^[8] The duo released their debut album, Connected in 2004, having never met face to face.^[9]

Their second album, Leave It All Behind was released in 2008. The group received a Nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Daykeeper" (featuring Muhsinah) from Leave It All Behind.^[10] Their third album, Authenticity, released on October 12, 2010, peaked at number 145 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US and Number 23 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[11] Love in Flying Colors, their fourth studio album, was released in 2013. The album's track “Better” was featured on Barack Obama’s 2022 playlist.^[12] The album Tales from the Land of Milk and Honey was released in 2015.^[13] Their album Hide&Seek was released in 2017.

Phonte has released two solo albums, and has appeared on numerous records by other artists as a vocalist. His lyrics tend to include perspectives on working-class life.^[2]

He released his solo-debut titled Charity Starts at Home on September 27, 2011 on the label FE Music.^[14] His second album, No News Is Good News (FE), was released on March 2, 2018. No News Is Good News was included in Bandcamp Daily's best-100-albums-of-2018 year-end list (placed at #42).^[15]

Phonte has composed music for soundtracks and TV, and is a voice over artist and actor. He did voice acting and composed music for the animated TV series, The Boondocks, as well as the series, Black Dynamite.^[16] He composed songs with DJ Premier for the TV series, The Breaks (VH1), 2016-2017. He was featured on several episodes in the role of “Imam Ali" in a script on the 1990s American music industry.^[17] He did voice acting for a commercial honoring Russell Westbrook's NBA Most Valuable Player win in 2017.^[18][19]

Phonte has composed multiple raps for Sesame Street characters, including a song for SZA’s Sesame Street appearance with a duet with Elmo entitled "Gratitude," in addition to other songs including “Apple vs. Banana” ft. Tavi Fields and “BBQ vs. Hike.” He was a member of "Team Supreme", co-hosting Questlove's podcast, Questlove Supreme from 2016 to 2025.^[20] Questlove Supreme won six Webby Awards and the 2023 Music Podcast of the Year for the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards.^[21]

• The Listening (2003)
• The Minstrel Show (2005)
• Getback (2007)
• Leftback (2010)
• May the Lord Watch (2019)

• Connected (2004)
• Leave It All Behind (2008)
• Authenticity (2010)
• Love in Flying Colors (2013)
• Tales from the Land of Milk and Honey (2015)

• Nomination, Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Daykeeper," with The Foreign Exchange, featuring Muhsinah, from Leave It All Behind
• Nomination, Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Vocalist, on "Vantablack" by Lalah Hathaway, 2024

• The Foreign Exchange
• Little Brother (group)
• Questlove Supreme

• Phonte RBMA video lecture session
• Interview with Phonte and Nicolay at Leisure Lab
• "Phonte on North Carolina, Little Brother and a new wave of Rap". Red Bull Music Academy. Red Bull Music. Retrieved January 10, 2018.