Rap duo Little Brother has opened up about parting ways after the release of their final album, Leftback.
Rapper Big Pooh compared the separation to other former hip-hop groups like Q-Tip's A Tribe Called Quest.
Phonte added and said sometimes privacy should be respected in the separation of associates."I was just thinking about our own situation and then I realized, when groups leave, it's just like when a person dies. Every person dies and a baby is born. So, as Little Brother calls it quits, there are other groups to not necessarily take our place but to keep the tradition going...That's what it's all about -- you don't want your favorite group to force a relationship. Like, you don't want Tribe Called Quest...If they don't really want to be together, you want them to make another album. If they make an album just because you asked for it, it's not going to be the same Tribe Called Quest you fell in love with. It's going to be something forced." (Hip Hop DX)
Chi-town's Rhymefest recently spoke with SOHH about Little Brother's run coming to an end."Generally, I'm a person that believes people don't have a right to know and keeping it all about the music. It's just like in a marriage. If you and your wife have a divorce, that pretty much should be kept between y'all. As long as everything's kept in private, then it's cool. I think that is the proper way to handle things." (Hip Hop DX)
Aside from their new album, Leftback, Little Brother have dropped three projects over the past seven years."I've talked to Little Brother about their "break-up." At the end of the day, they're both my brothers and it's just that they realize they've done as much as they can do with the Little Brother run. It's like, to me, they have to go off and explore different avenues and transitions of them as artists and as men. Little Brother is like a child that's ready to leave the house. It don't mean "Ah man, it's over!" People thought 9th Wonder leaving Little Brother was a moment where they had to say, "Oh man, they're done." And then they came out with so many dope albums after that. So now, they have to figure out who they are as individuals. And at the end of the day, you never know. How many times did Michael Jordan retire? [laughs] And then they find that their life experiences can bring them back together but regardless, I totally understand what they're doing because I'm getting ready to go through a transition myself." (SOHH)
In 2003, Little Brother released its full-length debut, The Listening, which won widespread critical praise that focused especially on 9th Wonder's production. The buzz helped him earn a raft of high-profile outside gigs, including tracks on a pair of multi-platinum releases: The Black Album by Jay-Z and Destiny Fulfilled by Destiny's Child. Little Brother leapt to a major label (along with ABB) in 2005 for The Minstrel Show. In January 2007, as the group was finishing up their next release, Getback, it was announced that Little Brother had left Atlantic and that 9th Wonder had amicably left Little Brother. (All Music)
Bookmarks