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May the Lord Watch is the fifth studio album by American hip-hop duo Little Brother. It was released on August 20, 2019 by Imagine Nation Music, For Members Only Records and Empire Distribution.[1]

May the Lord Watch
Studio album by Little Brother
Released	August 20, 2019 (2019-08-20)
Recorded	October 2018 - August 2019
Studio	The Autumn Attic The Burlap Place Raleigh, North Carolina
Length	37:15
Label	Imagine Nation For Members Only Empire
Producer	Khrysis Nottz Focus... Black Milk King Michael Coy Blaaq Gold Phonte Abjo Zo! Devin Morrison
Little Brother chronology
Leftback LP (2010) May the Lord Watch (2019)

The album is the duo's first album since 2010's Leftback release.[2]

Background

The album's development secretly began during the previous year of 2018, after Rapper Big Pooh, Phonte and 9th Wonder reunited during September's Art of Cool festival. However, this wasn't made public until shortly after Big Pooh and Phonte announced the group's reunion as a duo in May 2019.[3] Like the previous album Leftback, there was no production input from 9th, who went onward from the group to embark on a solo career as a producer and CEO. Instead, the album was primarily produced by longtime collaborators and Soul Council members Nottz, and Khrysis. Producers Black Milk, Focus..., Devin Morrison, Blaaq Gold, and even Phonte himself also contributed to the album's production.[4][5][6] Sharing continuity with The Minstrel Show, the album's theme continues the running concept of a fictional television network called "UBN", which is a satire of stereotypical programs, advertisements, and pop-culture for African-Americans.[7] One notable moment on the album was a skit from Peter Rosenberg announcing the death of Phonte's alter-ego Percy Miracles, which served as a tribute to the fact that the death of Phife Dawg was the event that brought Phonte and Pooh back together.[8] The character previously appeared on The Minstrel Show album track "Cheatin'".

In multiple interviews and podcasts - including the Premium Pete Show - it was revealed that 9th Wonder was originally supposed to be a part of the reunion album, under its original title Homecoming. The title was changed due to Beyonce releasing Homecoming: The Live Album to coincide with her concert film Homecoming. Phonte and Pooh decided to continue the project without 9th after several disagreements over beats and production on the album.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Exclaim!	8/10[12]
HipHopDX	[13]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+ ()[14]

May the Lord Watch was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 86, based on 5 reviews.[10]

Track listing

Credits adapted from istandard producers[15]

Samples

• "The Feel" contains a sample of "A Man Alone", as performed by Alan Hawkshaw
• "Everything" contains a sample of "In My Life", as performed by Mahavishnu Orchestra
• "Black Magic (Make It Better)" contains a sample of "The Chase", as performed by Anderson .Paak
• "Goodmorning Sunshine" contains a sample of "Eternal Love", as performed by Utopia
• "Sittin' Alone" contains a sample of "Open Your Eyes", as performed by Bobby Caldwell

Personnel

Charts

Chart	Peak position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[16]	11

References

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