Phonte Lyshod Coleman,[1] 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 podcast.[2]
Phonte is a member of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother (revived in 2019 without producer 9th Wonder) and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. He has also recorded R&B-flavored output as a singer (often under the pseudonym Percy Miracles), and with Nicolay on The Foreign Exchange.
Phonte first met the other members of Little Brother, rapper Big Pooh and producer 9th Wonder, in 1998 while attending North Carolina Central University, as an English major.[3] 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.[4] The album's success led to the group signing a non-exclusive deal with Atlantic Records.
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, 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.[3] Phonte made a guest appearance on the song "Beats N' Rhymes" from producer Kev Brown'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's The Outsider album. In the following year he contributed vocals to rap group Playaz Circle'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's "Take On Me", Toto's "Africa", and Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out". He appeared on RJD2's 2013 album More Is Than Isn't.
He released his solo-debut titled Charity Starts at Home on September 27, 2011 through FE Music.[5] His second album, No News Is Good News, was released on March 2, 2018, and was included in Bandcamp Daily's best-100-albums-of-2018 year-end list (placed at #42).[6] Phonte also featured on the track "No Wish" by Black Milk, along with Raphael Saadiq.[7]
Discography
Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
