Charity Starts at Home

Phonte | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: HBD LABEL GROUP
• ASIN: B005EYP728
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dance In The Reign

2. The Good Fight

3. Everything Is Falling Down

4. Not Here Anymore

5. Eternally

6. Sending My Love

7. Ball And Chain

8. To Be Yours

9. Gonna Be A Beautiful Night

10. We Go Off

11. The Life Of Kings

12. Who Loves You More

Editorial Reviews

The multi talented frontman of Little Brother and the Foreign Exchange drops his long awaited solo album. Phonte Coleman is a Grammy nominated Artist hailing from North Carolina. In addition to his impressive body of work as part of rap group Little Brother. He has also achieved substantial critical acclaim as a singer and songwriter for the genre bending soul ensemble The Foreign Exchange. Anticipation for this solo album has been building for years as the ranks of Little Brother and Foreign Exchange fans have swelled over the last decade.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classics Start At Home September 29, 2011

By Q. Pair

Format:Audio CD

"Classic" is a word that is thrown around by hip hop fans pretty often these days in refference to their favorite artists. That being said, I personaly chose to refrain from using the word unless I deem it absolutely appropriate to do so. With the long awaited debute from Phonte, Charity Starts At Home, I do believe that the world has been given a genuine, unblemished CLASSIC.

To me, a "Classic" album required two things: 1) You must be able to listen to it from start to finish without wanting to hit the skip button. 2)The content and lyrics of the songs must be timeless. In my opinion, Phonte manages to satisfy both of these requirements with flying colors.

Basically, this album has three types of songs on it. The first type is the standard braggadocious, lyrical muscle flexing rap that you'll hear from any rapper at some point, the second type is personal songs that give you insight on his life thus far. And man are they personal. the third type are the Foreign Exchange-y love songs. The braggy type songs, like "Dance In The Reign" "Not Here Anymore" "Everything Is Falling Down" "Eternally" and "We Go Off" allow Phonte to display his masterful manipulation of the english language, throwing together metaphors and double meanings that will have you sitting on the rewind button, while also maintaining that air of maturity in his lyrics which is rare to see in most rappers these days. Also in regards to these songs, three of the four of them have features, all of which are excellent choices for the songs they are on. The single, "Not Here Anymore" which features long time affiliate Elzi, is nothing short of a classic in itself.

The other eight songs on the album are all intimate glimpses into Phonte's life and his current mindset. He spends a good amount of time on the topics of relationships, implying he has some serious marital issues going on at the moment. "Sending My Love" talks about how difficult it is to maintain a solid committed relationship in light of the temptations out in the world, summing it all up well with the line "People want what grandma and gradndaddy had/ but they aint have options, we do." On the song "Ball & Chain" Phonte sings about how the woman he loves has become a gift and a curse, keeping him held down and weighing him down all at once. It truly does strike a personal chord for anyone who is married or in a long term relationship, because he's speaking so much truth in it. The chorus of the song is perfect, especially the last lines "So many nights I wish I knew the moment when/ your anchor turned into a ball and chain." Phonte touches on other topics like struggling to provide for a family, reflecting on his turbulent experience in the blue collar working world, and struggles with his and others priorities in life.

And fans of Foreign Exchange, fears not, because Tiggalo has something for you as well. "To Be Yours" and "Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" are fantastic love song tracks (the former is an intro to the latter), smooth and pleasing to the ear in classic Foreign Exchange style, with a feature from Muhsinah.

If I were to find any flaws with this album, it would be that it felt too short. Twelve tracks for an album is a decent amount, but the listening experience is so good that you just don't want it to end at 43 minutes (its about that long). The production is top notch, especially the contributions from 9th Wonder and Nicolay, the lyrics are always on point, and even the whole concept of the album is brought right to the surface for you at the end of the album in case you hadn't already caught onto it. Easily one of the best albums to come out in the last 10 years. 20/5!

Personal Favorites:

Life OF Kings
Ball & Chain
Send MY Love
Not Here Anymore

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Earnest rap for grown folks from one of the best September 30, 2011

By Scott Woods

Format:Audio CD

Determining what makes a rapper great can be difficult. It's always a moving target, and very few people have bothered to show their work. That said, I'm going to pull my soapbox out of the basement and state, unequivocally, that Phonte is one of the greats. His style is accessible but not juvenile (the rapper or meaning child-like). He's extremely versatile, with an uncanny natural rhythm regardless of the beat provided. His catalog has the depth of an extreme workaholic coupled with a level of quality that shows virtually no wear and tear on his craft. His vocabulary exposes an extremely prevalent intelligence. Most importantly, however: he raps about the things I care about at an extremely proficient level and in an engaging way.

His long-awaited debut album, "Charity Starts At Home", is ridiculously earnest: the things he sings about with Foreign Exchange are the things he raps about, and vice versa. While there is a LOT of Phonte out there, you are always getting Phonte as he IS. And if you go back over his catalog and note how some stances may have been different from phase to phase, these are not signs of hypocrisy...they are signs of growth. It is as if Phonte is incapable of a musical lie. If only every artist were as honest while not turning it into a corny refrain.

We are in no danger of that with this album. I'll answer the most asked question right out the gate: this is essentially a rap record. While there is a song on which Phonte ONLY sings ("To Be Yours") and two others on which he sings and does his own guest rapping ("Ball and Chain" and "Gonna Be A Beautiful Night"), that's about it out of a twelve-song set. This is not to say that if you only know him from fronting The Foreign Exchange you won't dig this album (hey, those people exist. I've met them). I think it will depend on what your relationship with rap is in general. As someone who has listened to rap since it came out and thinks a lot of the stuff that makes it to the radio is garbage, Phonte hits me right where I am: his lyrics show a real grappling with "grown folks business". While the beats largely accomplish everything I need all good rap beats to do - move, bounce, growl, snap, make my car shake on the way to work - it is Phonte's verbal wrestling with relationships, trying people, business matters and his own emotions that separate him from virtually the entire field of rappers currently working. It is thought-provoking, sincere and probably the most honest rap record in recent memory.

Standout tracks are "The Good Fight" (a great song to drive to work to and the coffee ain't gettin' it); "Sendin' My Love", "Not Here Anymore" (9th Wonder's sickest offering here as producer); "Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"; "We Go Off" (my FAVORITE song on this album, featuring Pharoahe Monch); and "Who Loves You More" (my second favorite song on this album). I want to point out that I just picked six songs - half the album - as STANDOUT tracks, meaning tracks that, as far as I'm concerned, anyone would like who has any musical palette whatsoever. Consider that more than a ringing endorsement...consider it a mandatory purchase.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Tigallo. New Tigallo. New Tigallo. September 27, 2011

By S. Haynes

Format:Audio CD

Phonte's solo album is nothing less than classic. I was expecting it to love it immediately and I did. It'll be in constant rotation at my house.