Little Brother - "The GetBack" Era

[jaxxalude]

XXL's Bol's Saturday Night Workout


Harder now that it’s over
RIP Little Brother 2002-2007.

I suppose I should’ve known it was a rap for Little Brother back when it was announced that 9th Wonder wouldn’t be contributing any beats to their next album. I mean, it does seem odd that a group would take out a press release to announce that one of its members won’t be contributing to its next album, no?

Imagine how 9th Wonder must have felt. After all, it was almost as if they were suggesting that it was his fault The Minstrel Show sold so few copies that Phonte and the other fellow have to show up to the Atlantic Records offices on weekends and clean Cheeto dust from the TI’s computers with a compressed air gun.

They may have had a point though. As much as I enjoy 9th Wonder’s production, it seems like he hit some sort of wall in terms of artistic development a long-ass time ago. Basically, he never really got any better than he was when they put out The Listening. What’s more, the novelty of his schtick has long since run out.

Even when his shit’s that good, it’s like, Of course it is. But it’s not like I haven’t heard this before. In retrospect, he may have played himself by cranking out so many remix albums (he did the first one evar, right?) and weed carrier albums and the shit he’s done with the Boot Camp Clik and so on and so forth.

Now they’ve gone and announced that 9th Wonder is no longer a member of the group at all, which I took to mean there’s some sort of beef. You’ll recall that 9th Wonder would rarely, if ever tour with them, and my guess is that him getting the U-God treatment on the next album couldnt’ have helped matters.

Also, Little Brother no longer have a deal with Atlantic Records, so maybe that’s the final straw. If 9th Wonder can still clock a few grand here and there cranking out the same shitty beat he’s been making since 2002, why bother going through the hassel of being on Koch Records with those other two bums?

Zero records sold at $8 per album still equals $0.

Which begs the question: what will become of the other two members of Little Brother now that they have no producer and no record label? My guess is that no other major labels are knocking down their doors with record deals, especially after seeing what happened with their homeboys The Roots at Def Jam.

[Crushcrushchris]

My uncle's going to be bummed by this news. He'd just been getting into them and buying anything he could find of the group. I have to say that I enjoyed what I heard of their last album.

[jaxxalude]

Is anyone really surprised this happened? I mean, do you remember the stupid situation with BET a year-and-a-half ago? Remember how Atlantic didn't back them up? What's more, I've been to Australia (Melbourne, specifically) a few months ago and I met Phonté there. And he already said, off the record, right there and then, that they wouldn't keep fucking with Atlantic. OK, so I may have cheated a bit here. But it wouldn't surprise me anyway, really.

[SHOOTER]

It was obvious from day one that Atlantic wouldn't know what to do with them or their music. Atlantic was just hoping they would possibly make a catchy enough single to gain the group some attention and record sales. They really never planned to put in real work into promoting them.

[jaxxalude]

An AllHipHop.com feature on 9th Wonder's new endeavour.

[jaxxalude]

Finally, the inside scoop. The head of the Justus League, Big Dho, tells it like it is at HipHopSite.com.

[jaxxalude]

SOHH.com


Little Brother Leak Free Mixtape
Wednesday - January 31, 2007 by Janeé Bolden

Little Brother will be releasing their lastest mixtape with DJ Mick Boogie, "And Justus For All" for free online next month.

With Little Brother's announcement this week that their trio has become a 9th Wonder-less duo, "And Justus For All" will provide fans with a taste of what the new LB is all about. Initially planned for release in Fall of 2006, SOHH has recently learned from Mick Boogie that the final version of And Justus For All consists of 99.9% original music. Listeners can expect to hear production from Khrysis, Focus, the Kickdrums, Nottz, Oddisee, Babu and RJD2 as well as guest appearances from Talib Kweli, Ray Cash, Kardinal Offishall, Rhymefest, Skillz and Aftermath artist Bishop Lamont.

Following in the vein of Talib and Madlib's recent collabo Liberation, "And Justus For All" will be available for free download.

"Due to the changing landscape of the mixtape industry, Little Brother and myself decided to keep it true to the spirit of hip-hop and make this forthcoming classic available to the public for free. Its all original, all new music created by the LB fam and mixed by myself," Mick Boogie told SOHH. "While everyone is saying hip-hop is dead, on February 13 the Mick Boogie/Little Brother team will show that hip-hop is alive and better than ever."

Mick Boogie will also re-launch his website MickBoogie.com on February 13, which coincides with the release of "And Justus for All."

[jaxxalude]

AllHipHop.com


An Open Letter to Little Brother
By Paine

“Now Little Brother gonna break up / Everyday I wake up”…

It was almost four years ago to the date. I was interviewing J. Rawls, and shortly before we closed our drab questions and answers, I asked the Lone Catalysts producer what records he was presently feeling. “I can’t stop playing ‘Whatever You Say’ by Little Brother.” That’s the only thing I’ll ever remember about that one… because discovering Little Brother changed my ears forever.

I had the pleasure of getting in on the mezzanine level of Raleigh-Durham’s native sons. Just days after releasing The Listening, I remember speaking to Phonte, Big Pooh, and 9th Wonder, as they ducked in a windy alley not far from the ABB Records offices, happily passing around a publicist’s cell phone. Like most new artists, the trio was hungry to talk about song meanings, about the girls they were avenging on the album, and about how much RZA, Pete Rock, and J Dilla meant to 9th Wonder – Preemo too, he added later. When my questions were up, I sensed that the group could’ve talked for hours more – and looking back, I wish they would have.

Ironically, 9th Wonder and Little Brother missed a page from their inspirations.

They had never spoken to an angry Method Man or Ghostface Killah on a rushed press day, where writer after writer tries to sneak in the question, “Is RZA on the album?” They never read the reviews that praised The Pretty Toney and Fishscale, but wondered if the albums would have been better, had RZA assumed the duties that he carried in the early days. As the Doggystyle interlude joked, Wu-Tang without the RZA may be “like Harold Melvin without The Blue Notes – they’ll never go platinum.” The bees have been swarmed by “what if’s” when it comes to RZA’s role, which undoubtedly await for Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth made magic together. As an instrumental, as an accapella, and best as a homogenous blend of emotion and Tom Scott horns, “They Reminisce Over You” is arguably Hip-Hop’s best headphone record, something that dance-floors even adapted to. But alone, Pete and CL’s magic has been reduced to store-bought card tricks. Although Pete Rock holds rank as one of Hip-Hop’s hall-of-fame producers, he backed countless projects from INI to Deda, all of which lacked the missing ingredient, the main ingredient. Worse off, CL Smooth’s American Me showed an artist out of his element, settling for paper, when he had made a career rhyming on canvas.

After 15 years of hard to earn loyalty, Gang Starr folded in 2004 for what many believe to be ego as well. As DJ Premier insists the group is hardly over, Guru continues to swear he’ll never work outside of new producing partner Solar in his career. Like Little Brother, both Guru and DJ Premier had managed to sustain albums and following without each other, but the Gang Starr sound was always in tact, pointing back to the next long awaited album. Since the breakup, neither icons have lived up to the sum of their parts, and legions of fans have been orphaned.

Slum Village has fought hard to overcome the absence of J Dilla. Just as their 2005 self-titled album showed the group capable of thriving outside of James Yancey’s beats, they were presented with his death. Now Slum Village may be looked at as The Rolling Stones were considered with guitarist Brian Jones: there was the era when he was there, and there was everything else. As for Dilla, while his sound grew comfortable both in Stones Throw Records’ roster of talented artists and Common/Busta Rhymes album cuts, there was always that desire from fans to hear him rekindle that Fantastic chemistry he had with his brothers from the D.

It is my opinion that Little Brother is making a grave mistake. All three parties within the group have worn themselves thin. Pooh released a Sleepers solo album while Phonte did more feature work than Nate Dogg in his prime. Meanwhile, it seems that 9th Wonder was responsible for single-handedly making Duck Down Records sound fresher, giving Murs two cult-classics, handcrafting a Jean Grae effort that was tragically leaked, and sustaining a career hitting Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, Memphis Bleek, and countless other major label artists with big dollar beats. Regardless of any A&R’s opinions on the status of the group, Little Brother ought to find a way to make time for each other, and clear the market for their albums.

What made The Listening great was that when it ended, you immediately wanted to replay the record. It was unique, in both lyrics and beats, and it earned a listener’s attention. Conversely, what made The Minstrel Show ephemeral in the marketplace was that you could get the lyrics and the beats [whether imitated or from the source] on nearly a third of all the albums released in 2005. Simply put, it was the difference between a small portion of the best s**t you’ve ever tasted in your life versus an all-you-can dinner buffet.

Hip-Hop tends to look at circumstances differently – The Main Source after Large Professor, Tha Dogg Pound without Dr. Dre, Goodie Mob minus Cee-Lo. All of these groups had great albums, and shots at Hip-Hop immortality. But egos, career moves, personnel changes, and drama pulled them from those “Top” conversations, from Hip-Hop Honors, and from our memories more often than not. Is Little Brother, the group that redefined Southern music’s integrity – a group that extended to reach U.G.K. and Mos Def fans alike, worth all that?

That same 2003 year that Little Brother broke out, I caught them on their first national tour, on a Philadelphia stop. That night, I witnessed a typically-expressionless DJ Jazzy Jeff jump around like he was hearing “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time during Little Brother’s set. Jeff hung on every lyric, every cue, every chorus like he was the newjack and LB, the 20-year veterans. The group was singing, they were dancing; there was an unapologetic 9th Wonder behind the CDJ’s because instrumentals weren’t even pressed on vinyl yet. I saw three smiling men from North Carolina who were bringing Hip-Hop back, keeping underground Hip-Hop Black, and truly creating a block party vibe without relying on reissues of classics to pull it off. A crowd, many of which was there for other acts, took to the group in minutes – putting hands in the air, and matching the euphoric attitude they saw on stage. Little Brother had the potential and the talent to be the present generation’s Gang Starr or their A Tribe Called Quest. Instead, in the wake of poor sales figurations and strenuous schedules, Little Brother might be following in the rarely revisited footsteps of The Artifacts, Organized Konfusion, Reflection Eternal…and so forth.

In the disco ball words of Thelma Houston, “Don’t leave us this way.”

[jaxxalude]

HipHopDX.com


Who The Hell Am I? The Deadly, Career Ending Break Up

January 31st, 2007 | Author: Andreas Hale

“First the Fat Boys Break Up…”

In Hip Hop, the break-up can be considered one of the most heartbreaking moments for a fan. As children, we’ll never forget the day we heard Tribe was going their separate ways. Or how about the day your heart sunk when the word spread that the Green Eyed Bandit and Parrish Smith made their “business” personal. Some of us still hold our Wu-Tang flags at half mast awaiting the day that the crew can stay together longer than a Rock The Bells moment. Alas, it is all a part of hip hop and now comes a day where many fans have shed a tear once they heard that 9th Wonder and Little Brother have parted ways.

“It was all good just a week ago…”

That’s what it seems like for most of us. Just last week I was on a road trip bumping The Listening. Hell, I remember pounding “Lyrics To Go” the day I found out Tribe was breaking up and thinking “Gotdamn…for real?” As fans, we only consider the last album to have been released “a week ago” although there is time spent between records. As fans, we tend to forget that artists are human beings and have their differences – whether creative or personal. But honestly, we don’t want to hear that s**t. Didn’t nobody want to hear that Pete Rock and CL Smooth were a wrap. All the bulls**t in between didn’t matter to us. All we cared about was the music. You couldn’t tell me then (and probably couldn’t tell me later) that Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli’s best work was done as solo entities. As much as I want to think that their work apart has been up to snuff with Train of Thought, I’d be bulls**tting you to the tenth degree.

The fact is that fans don’t know who these artists are outside of their craft. They don’t know what kind of guy Talib Kweli is or if Phife Dawg was an explosive element that led to Tribe breaking up. All the fans know is that the music they made was dope and that’s it.

As a fan…we just don’t give a f**k about your life outside of music. Sad but it’s true.

As a journalist, we tend to come to know what’s going on with your favorite rap artists. Some of us befriend rappers and come to understand who the artists are outside of music and get the notion that they are just as human as us. All you get is choice quotes on your favorite magazine/website that paints a slightly distorted and sensationalized story which leads you to believe that (insert your favorite rapper here) is an asshole, has a massive ego or is a divisive element.

All things considered, the break up is the gotdamn worst thing that can happen to an artist. And as totally unfair as it is to those who are interested in growing and expanding their catalog, the term “The first impression is a lasting one” holds true in every aspect. Gang Starr was defined by their sound. Strip Guru from Primo and you have…well…not Gang Starr.

Blaring faults were pointed out once Guru stood on his own. Things that some thought but never said out loud began to come into fruition. Some pointed out that Guru’s rhymes were inferior without Premier. Yeah…well…honestly his rhymes were the same back then as they are now.

“Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is/I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis”

I love that line and I really don’t know why. The set up line is corny as f**k but add in that pounding bassline of “Dwyck” and it was all forgivable. All a breakup does is force the artist to stand on his own without the “help” of his boys. As human beings, we all have to spread our wings and try to fly. Some rise above the clouds while some of you sons of b***hes fall flat on your face. U-God without the Wu-Tang? Yikes…

As much as many of us hated (and LA fans still hate) Kobe Bryant for "helping" Shaq out of Los Angeles, it had to happen. Yeah the methods that it went about were wack but Kobe had to find out sooner or later if he could win without the Diesel. Sure, he floundered about as a one man show for the first year, but (as much as I used to hate him) this year he has come to his own and learned that the breakup isn’t all about you as much as it is winning at the end of the game. The drama of the breakup only lasts as long as you are a loser. Miss the playoffs without Shaq and your ass will be talked about.

Fans will, however, shut the f**k up if you can deliver the wins. The 81 points was ill but at the end of the day that was ego trippin' at its finest (along with some s**tty Toronto Raptors defense). How about a division title or another NBA championship. You don’t want to be the only 81-point scoring sonofab***h WITHOUT a championship (in the post-Shaq era). Ultimately, careers are defined by wins. All that drama in between will be forgotten if you follow up with a good year. If the music speaks for itself, we will all excuse the notion that the breakup eventually dooms the artists.

In some cases the breakup can be crippling. The Jacksons minus Michael? A tragedy. Or how about LONS without Busta? On the other hand, making a move can be beneficial to ones career. Diana Ross dissed The Supremes and was like Scrooge McDuck swimming in money. Imagine if Marvin Gaye stayed being a session drummer for The Miracles. Scarface never leaving the Geto Boys? Or how about if Lauryn Hill and Wyclef were just Fugees? It all depends on how talented you are outside of the fan created comfort zone.

If Phonte and Pooh were wack then I’d be worried. But some of us forgot how utterly retarded the Foreign Exchange album was and 9th was nowhere to be found. Yeah, we can b***h and moan about 9th not being able to make hot s**t without his LB brethren, but that dude cooked up something ridiculous with Murs (who also semi-split from a "legend"ary underground group to take on a solo venture). There are lots of artists who split from the group and make it (Letoya Luckett is laughing her "I got booted out of Destiny's Child" ass all the way to the bank). But the Ali Shaheed Muhammad album, Parrish Smith’s solo ventures and Flava Flav’s outing? “Not so much!” © Borat

So can the breakup actually work out? In Little Brother’s case, Phonte and Pooh can be like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre with this s**t. Cube arguably made his best work after he left NWA (not arguable at all to me…maybe to you). And because Amerikkka’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate were incredible, nobody said s**t. Nobody shed a tear after they heard The Chronic did they? Hell, for a minute there I absolutely forget that Dre was even in NWA. Eazy E took all of us on a trip with Eazy Duz It. As for MC Ren? Well…somebody has to be a casualty of the breakup. Sure, Fantastic Vol 2 can be considered a classic for Slum Village but Dilla had to split. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t be subjected to all of his brilliance since then. Premier has cooked up some incredible beats with and without Guru while Pete Rock continues to be a monster behind the boards.

So really all the breakup does is take our favorite group out of the neat little box we created for them and force their respective talents to stand on their own in different environments. Many said that Peyton Manning wouldn’t get this far without Edgerrin James. I don’t know about you, but a certain quarterback got that “can’t get to the big dance” monkey off his back and made it to the Super Bowl without his beloved tailback.

Some players are defined by their uniform while others define the uniform they are in.

Look fam, at the end of the day, nobody has died. I ain’t being a palm bearer because 9th Wonder left Little Brother. Hip Hop ain’t dead because Little Brother, Tribe Called Quest and Blackstar went their separate ways. it’s dying because a whole lot of other nonsense plaguing the airwaves. As fans, we need to think outside of our little box for a minute and wait for the material to drop before we start assuming things. The only sad thing about this ordeal is that Little Brother as a trio was never exposed to the masses. Most of us tucked them away and we felt damn good when we put somebody onto The Listening or The Minstrel Show. I personally have never heard anyone say “Yo…them Little Brother dudes is garbage.” Never.

I am quite gassed at the concept of Getback possibly featuring the likes of Just Blaze and Primo backing up Pooh and Tay’s rhymes. Fans and Stans alike...let the artists grow. You gotta see if you can win a ring without Michael Jordan and if Michael Jordan can win a ring without you. But if Phonte and Pooh make Shade Business or The Wonderful World of Cease-A-Leo then it’s a wrap. But growth is nature at the end of the day. Deal with it. Everybody doesn’t stay married until they die so why should we expect two or three men to stay together forever. So are 9th, Pooh and Tay making a mistake by going their separate ways? I’ll just wait until I hear the music. But until then, I’m just a critic… Who The Hell Am I?

[jaxxalude]

I think he meant retarded in hip-hop terms (i.e., off the hook, insane, phat).

[oscillations.]

You should be in bed by now, jaxx. It's 2:30am for you. What's wrong, can't sleep? ;) I have remedies for that...

[francky]

So no more 9th Wonder prod? That's a damn shame!

[busyboy]

alex81979 said:

Where's the new single!!??!!

Here.

[jaxxalude]

9th Wonder
Hustle On
Interview: Maiya Norton

[Damage]

instant signature. Thanks jaxx.

[jaxxalude]

HIPHOPSITE


Little Brother "Get Back" With ABB/HOJ Music On 9/25



With the group's recent departure from Atlantic, Little Brother have come back home, so to speak, with Get Back, dropping September 25th, 2007 on ABB Records / HOJ Music Group. The first song leaked is "Good Clothes", which can currently be heard on the group's MySpace page. HOJ head Big Dho spoke exclusively with HipHopSite about the new record.

"Time to take it back to the basics with this one, they didnt give us a real shot on the last one, so were taking a shot on this one," said Dho in regards to the 100% indie distribution of the new album. "We got a few surprises for the record as far as producers and a features go, we did keep it LB with 9th, Khrysis, Illmind and Nottz and our newly signed artist Jozee Mo. So now we cant fit in any box they try to put us in...it just wont happen!"

According to the group's blog, the tracklist reads as follows. This is not the actual tracklist, but "hints" of what to expect from the final product. - Pizzo

1. (angry song with a creepy chorus)
2. (neckbreaking song with weird meter change)
3. (song that will make core fanbase gasp in disbelief)
4. Good Clothes
5. (song that features the same person who was on the first song)
6. (song to ride out to)
7. (song that your girl will love)
8. (song produced by the same person who produced the song that introduced you to the person on songs 1 and 5)
9. (bittersweet song)
10. (tearjerking song)
11. (the last song)

Produced by Seven ***I'M RACIST***s and a Bad Ass Filipino

===============================//========================================

[busyboy]

Leaked. In stores October 23.

[Damage]

Sweet. Been waiting for this for eons. Next up, missy, dre, metalface.

[areyoureadytojump]

11/17 chart

180 LITTLE BROTHER GETBACK 4,451 9,522 -53% 14,102