Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is also a member of Team Supreme, that co-hosts the

Questlove Supreme ''Questlove Supreme'' is a podcast led by Questlove (Ahmir Thompson) and co-hosted by Team Supreme, which includes Unpaid Bill ( Bill Sherman), Suga Steve ( Steven Mandel), Laiya St. Clair, Phonte (Phonte Coleman) and formerly Boss Bill (Bill ...

podcast. Phonte is a member of the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother (revived in 2019 without producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

) and one-half of the duo

The Foreign Exchange The Foreign Exchange is music duo consisting of the American rapper Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay, their music is a blend of hip hop, soul, R&B and electronica. Musical career The pair initially made contact via message boar ...

. He has also recorded R&B-flavored output as a singer (often under the pseudonym Percy Miracles), and with Nicolay on The Foreign Exchange.

Career

Little Brother

Phonte first met the other members of Little Brother, rapper

Big Pooh Thomas Louis Jones III (born February 12, 1980), better known by his stage name Big Pooh (or Rapper Big Pooh), is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brot ...

and producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

, in 1998 while attending

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

, as an

English major English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a distin ...

. 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, and recording their debut album, '' The Listening''. The album's success led to the group signing a non-exclusive deal with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The group's 2005 album, '' The Minstrel Show'', was a concept album dealing with themes including the current state of hip hop music. The album received positive reviews, without commercial success. During the recording of their third album, the group announced the departure of 9th Wonder on amicable terms, as well as a parting of ways with their label. Through a contractual clause they returned to ABB Records and released '' Getback'' in late 2007.

The Foreign Exchange

Phonte met Dutch producer Nicolay virtually on an OkayPlayer message board. The duo released their debut album, ''

Connected Connected may refer to: Film and television * ''Connected'' (2008 film), a Hong Kong remake of the American movie ''Cellular'' * '' Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology'', a 2011 documentary film * ''Connected'' (2015 TV ...

'', having never met face to face. The Foreign Exchange has released four albums. The group received a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Daykeeper" (featuring Muhsinah) from the second album, '' Leave It All Behind''.

Solo work

Phonte has appeared on numerous records by other artists as a vocalist. His lyrics tend to include perspectives on working-class life. Phonte made a guest appearance on the song "Beats N' Rhymes" from producer

Kev Brown Kev Brown is an American music producer and artist. He is the founding member of the former Low Budget Crew. Biography Kev Brown made his recording debut as a featured artist on Re-Entry (2001), part of Marley Marl's BBE Beat Generation series. ...

's album "I Do What I Do", and has also recorded tracked with producer Oddisee, both members of the Washington D.C. (DMV)-based Low Budget collective. In 2006, he was featured on producer

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972 in San Jose, California, San Jose, California), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. His debut studio album, ''Endtroducing.....,'' was released in 1996. He uses l ...

's '' The Outsider'' album. In the following year he contributed vocals to rap group

Playaz Circle Playaz Circle was an American hip hop duo composed of rappers 2 Chainz and Dolla Boy, both of whom originate from College Park, Georgia. They signed with Ludacris' record label, Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings to release t ...

's song "Paper Chaser", from their album '' Supply & Demand''. Phonte's recent projects include The Foreign Exchange's third album, '' Authenticity'', as well as a collaboration (as Tiggalo) with Detroit-based musician Zo! titled '' Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80s''. ''Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80s'' is a homage to early 1980s R&B and pop music and features covers of popular songs such as

a-Ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

's "

Take On Me "Take On Me" is a song by Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff (producer), John Ratcliff. The 1985 international ...

", Toto's "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

", and Joe Jackson's " Stepping Out". He appeared on

Danny! Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered h ...

's 2012 album '' Payback'' as well as

RJD2 Ramble Jon Krohn (born May 27, 1976), better known by his stage name RJD2, is an American musician and record producer based in Columbus, Ohio. He is the owner of record label RJ's Electrical Connections. He has been a member of groups such as S ...

's ''

More Is Than Isn't ''More Is Than Isn't'' is the fifth studio album by RJD2. It was released on RJ's Electrical Connections on October 8, 2013. It peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, as well as number 10 on th ...

'' in the following year. He released his solo-debut titled '' Charity Starts at Home'' on September 27, 2011 through FE Music. His second album, ''No News Is Good News'', was released on March 2, 2018, and was included in ''

Bandcamp Daily Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epi ...

'''s best-100-albums-of-2018 year-end list (placed at #42). Phonte also featured on the track "No Wish" by

Black Milk Curtis Eugene Cross (born August 14, 1983), better known by his stage name Black Milk, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Career In addition to Slum Village, Black Milk has worked with J Dilla, Elzhi, Phat Kat, Frank-N-D ...

, along with Raphael Saadiq.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Extended plays

With Little Brother

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

With The Foreign Exchange

* ''

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

Guest appearances

References

External links

Phonte RBMA video lecture sessionInterview with Phonte and Nicolay at Leisure Lab
{{Authority control 1978 births Living people African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Rappers from North Carolina Singers from North Carolina Atlantic Records artists Record producers from North Carolina Musicians from Durham, North Carolina American hip-hop singers American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians The Foreign Exchange members Little Brother (group) members Justus League members